The Fire Of Your Pernicious Rage
by MikaHaeli8
Summary: Sequel to "Deny Thy Father..."; second in the Blood Ties trilogy. When Jakuelynn's life is uprooted by tragedy and revelations, she must look beyond herself and her family for reasons to save the world.  M for violence/ sex/ language/ themes. R&R.
1. Prologue: This Love

I waited for the pain to pass. It overwhelmed me, pressing me further into the wall that was already merging with my back, causing rivulets of blood to run down it and providing a gory pattern. _It_ had been kind; _It_ let me keep my underwear but stripped me of all other clothes. Perhaps It wanted to lengthen the torture; make me truly suffer.

I apologise. I've never been great with words. At the moment, though, they seemed to spit out of me as if a thousand people were contained in my larynx.

"You are _not _bringing me down!"

It chuckled, pacing back and forth in front of me. "No. You've already done a superb job of doing that all by yourself." It stopped, Its round red eyes locking onto mine. "I am just helping you along to your final destination."

I struggled against the restraints, but it was no use. I was several feet up off the ground so even if I did break free, the fall to the floor would surely break my legs. There was no means of escape in the cave I was chained up in as well – all possible exits were sealed. A heavy sense of foreboding seeped into my mind and I closed my eyes, trying to think of _them_. One was waiting at home for me, perhaps not fully understanding why I had to leave. The other? Well, I wasn't entirely sure where the other was. Last time I'd seen him, I was being dragged away from him.

Foreboding was torn from my mind when _It_ stepped close enough to be called "intimate" to me, pushing a long, thin, sharp needle into my torso. I slammed my jaws together, suppressing a scream and the urge to throw my head back. _It_ sighed – well, as close as _It_ can get to sighing – with a high concentration of displeasure. My suppressed scream turned into laughter through gritted teeth. Every clench of muscle sent stabs of pain from the needle, but I didn't care.

I was winning.

"What's wrong? You're failing to make me scream?"

It growled. "Oh, you'll scream. Maybe not now, but sooner or later, I will crack you."

"And then what?" I unlocked my jaw. "Kill me? Dispose of me? Move on? But there's no fun in that, is there? There's never any fun in killing for you. It's the dying moments...the final, fleeting knowledge that nothing can be done...that are the moments to be savoured. The moments where pricks like you get hard for years just by remembering them."

It jerked on the needle, causing me to grunt as more pain shot through me. Pain. I'd had just about enough of it in the last year.

"So we do understand each other, Jakuelynn Mar," It said, contemplatively. "You and I are not all that dissimilar. We both kill to get what we want and whom we want. We've made enemies because of what we do. Well, well, well...we've finally reached a level of common ground."

"The difference between you and I," I replied, letting the Dark Eco throb through my veins "is that I have never put a gun to the temples of those I love and punched bullets in their brains."

"Oh, but you _have_." It wore a smirk on It's two-thirds-human face. "Maybe not shot them, like your father did, but you let them die, didn't you? Remember?" It yanked on the needle some more, causing my body to involuntarily jerk. "Or have you chosen to forget?"

I closed my eyes, letting my head hang. I had never forgotten that day; choice never came into it. The day where everything changed for me.

I would have replied to It's rhetoric, but like I said, I'm no good with words.


	2. One: Happily Ever After, To Kiss A Frog

**A/N: THANKYOU for the reviews :D Yes, I forgot to say, the last chapter was a Prologue. Here is Chapter One. Proper. To be sure. Catalyst included. ~ Mika**

_**One year previously**_

"No."

"But why?"

"Just...no."

"WHY?"

"Deimin, I said no, and that's final."

"But...but..."

"But you'll crash it and _then_ I'll have to spend more money we don't have on building another one!"

"But it looks cool."

"Yeah, that's because I've spent the past five years adding enhancements to it to _make _it look cool." Jakuelynn folded her arms, raising her eyebrows.

Demin sighed, turning his big black eyes upon the young woman.

"Don't you..." Jakuelynn sighed. "Deimin, don't _do _that, it's not..." But it was working. "Oh, _alright_ then. But on one condition."

Deimin's eyes lit up. "What?"

"That I come with you." Jakuelynn smiled in a way only Deimin understood; a way that said, 'I promise I won't control you later'.

Deimin twisted his mouth as his brain saw the smile. "Oh, alright then. Long as you stick to the promise your smile just...er...promised."

Jakuelynn pretended to look shocked. "Is my smile promising things my mouth didn't consent to again?"

Deimin grinned. "Race you to the garage,"

"You're on, Ghosten." They locked eyes for a sexually-charged second. "3...2...1 – HEY, THAT'S CHEATING!"

"Eat my dust, Hagai!" Deimin shouted as he took off. Jakuelynn took off after him, using her build to her advantage as she swiftly overtook her boyfriend. The look on his face was utterly priceless as she finally skidded to a halt, breathing evenly, outside her custom-built Zoomer. He limped behind, panting like a dog, and collapsed in the dust at her feet.

"Day, I know I'm a princess, but you don't have to bow before me," Jakuelynn joked, reaching down to pull her boyfriend up. He lifted his head and smirked, yanking her. She stumbled and allowed herself to collapse in the dust next to him. "That was sneaky, Demin Ghosten,"

"I know. But you love it," he purred, one arm around Jakuelynn's waist. She smiled, shifting closer to him.

"I suppose..." she whispered, before pulling him into a deep and probing kiss.

~x~

_**Later**_

_She knelt in the Wasteland, shoulders shaking with sobs as a dust storm whipped around her, obscuring her completely. Once it cleared, she was in the hospital, arms folded as a doctor was talking to her. She left, crashing through doors which swung open and shut to reveal a little boy running towards his mother – the same woman – and her open arms as she called his name. She swung him up and held him tightly, her eyes looking straight at _him_. Not the little boy, but the observer._

_Suddenly, it was remarkably clear whom that woman was._

Deimin shot awake, his eyes springing open, covered in sweat. He looked at the time. 3:22 a.m. He had to sleep – his family was coming over tomorrow, all five of his sisters and his mother. He debated on whether he should tell them what Jakuelynn had told him, but eventually decided not to, since he was one of those people who needed ocular proof before confirming to everyone else.

"Day...?"

A hand on his shoulder. He smiled, unconsciously resting his own hand on it.

"Whussup..."

"Nothing, Nel. Just a dream."

"You're sweating," she mumbled sleepily, sitting up. "Did you have a vision?" She rubbed her eyes and blinked them a couple of times before focussing on Deimin. Not for the first time, the moonlight caught those eyes in a way which prevented him from breathing.

He looked down at his lap. Jakuelynn slid her arms around his shoulders, kissing his neck in the spot which added something else that stood to attention for her.

"Tell me, Day," she breathed. "What happened?"

He turned to face her. She was genuinely concerned, and in the twenty-one years he'd known her, he'd never been able to hide anything from her except for his real feelings for a number of years. She put her calloused hands around his face and he closed his eyes. He was usually very articulate with words, but something blocked his thoughts, stopping him from letting her know what he'd seen.

"I...I c-can't tell you," he whispered, dropping his head. "Sorry, Nel. I just...I would if I could, but there's a block and I'm not going to defy it,"

She nodded, understanding. The last time he'd defied a vision block, he was left in excruciating pain for weeks. It was also one of those things one had to leave to clear up on its own. Jakuelynn swept her eyes over his body and pulled herself closer to him. He gave in, his fears melting away as he concentrated on exploring her powerful body. By the time the sun rose, both were sleeping peacefully, bodies entangled.


	3. Two: I Ain't Lost, Just Wandering

**A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for reviews as always :D Early update tonight as am going out soon. Enjoy! ~ Mika**

**PS: Nel, Day and Rhogan are mine, almost everything else is Naughty Dog's.**

**PPS: No reviews = no update tomorrow. You have been warned.**

Jakuelynn sprang awake at five-thirty the next morning, the same way and time she had done for six and a half years. She rubbed her eyes and pulled some clothes on, tiptoeing past a sleeping Deimin and to the back of the house to watch the new day break. She sat on the wide grassy platform near the edge of the cliff the house was built on and closed her eyes, tilting her head back as the sunrise warmed her face. She loved this time of day, and indeed, having a full hour in the morning to herself before the day began.

"Nel?"

The sleep-roughed voice of the brightest star in her sky reached her ears. She heard a soft padding as the grass bent beneath bare feet and Deimin flopped down next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She reached back, lacing her fingers with his, her green eyes locking with his pitch-black ones. Even after twenty-one years of knowing him, those eyes never failed to render her breathless.

"Hi, Day. You okay?"

That voice, distinctly female if not slightly roughened, not fitting the body it came from; the voice he loved to hear.

"Your comm buzzed," he said. "Rhogan wants you. He says it's important,"

"Ah...Really?" There was an edge of disappointment in Jakuelynn's voice – the warrior instinct struggling against the desire to, for once, not listen to Rhogan's call. "I...Excuse me." A look of regret crossed her face as she pushed herself up off the ground, strolling back to the house. She felt Deimin's eyes watching her go, feeling the message beamed from them.

"Morning, Nel," came another gruff, sleep-roughened voice.

"Morning, Father," she replied automatically, snatching up her communicator. "Word Runner, this is Viking Queen, come in,"

"This is Word Runner," Rhogan responded. Although the constrictive regime of his aunt was seven years long over, it had become a dictatorship-induced reflex to use code names. "Viking Queen, we have a situation out in the Wasteland with Metal Heads."

"Got it, Word Runner, what's the situation?"

"It's not exactly clear, but they seem to be after crates of Dark Eco. We've lost several men out there trying to get rid of them."

"So I'm a last resort," Jakuelynn replied, noticing an edge of retort in her voice. She knew Rhogan was her superior, having run the city – with her permission – over the past seven years, but the physical effects of that were beginning to take its toll on her.

She almost heard Rhogan bite his lip. "VQ, you and Big Daddy are the best we have. I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't serious,"

"So why not ask me first?" she replied, a little calmer, the warrior's instinct rising back up.

"We underestimated the seriousness of the situation."

_That all you can give me?_ Jakuelynn took a very deep breath. "Okay, Word Runner, I'm on. Let me get my baby and go. Viking Queen out." She clicked off before Rhogan could confirm himself out, sweeping past Jak, whom was about to ask what Rhogan wanted.

"Nel, what did he want?"

"Something about Metal Heads and crates of Dark Eco." Jakuelynn grabbed her own Morph Gun. "Gotta go." Her communicator buzzed – Rhogan again. "Yes?"

"One more thing,"

"What is it, Word Runner?"

"Don't destroy the Dark Eco crates. Also, be careful about going Dark,"

Jakuelynn nodded. "Yes...I will. Where is this?"

"Where the Precursor Monk Temple used to be,"

"Understood. VQ out." She shut off the communicator and turned to Deimin, who just looked at her.

"Be back, won't you?" he asked somewhat reluctantly, phrasing it as more of a statement as his shoulders slumped.

The young warrior looked into his eyes, secretly wishing she could stay there forever. "I will," she promised, running to the garage where all her vehicles were kept. She eventually decided on the Dune Hopper, which bent as she jumped straight into it. Another weight bent the Hopper under her.

"Princess Jakuelynn Mar Hagai, what are you doing kicking arse without me?" a young voice demanded to know.

"Deimin Ghosten...didn't you say adventuring was not for you?" she asked pointedly.

"Yeah well...I...wanna taste it for myself." He shrugged.

Jakuelynn grinned. "Okay. But I _will_ leave you behind if you call me 'Princess' again." She grinned. "Scarf up, goggles down, this is gonna get bumpy!"


	4. Three: I Can Handle The Sorrow

**A/N: YAY REVIEWS! My threat worked and I've been out pretty much all day, so sorry for the late update ^_^ To answer Red's question: it's set 7 years on from "Deny Thy Father..." Jakuelynn and Deimin are both around 25 years old which would make Jak and Daxter approximately 55 years old. Honestly, though, I can't imagine the original dynamic duo as old men :L.**

**Usual disclaimers and threat apply. Enjoy 't. ~ Mika**

**PS: Sorry for any flabby bits, I wasn't listening to music when I completed and edited this chapter.**

Jak watched his daughter and her lover roar off into the Wasteland and grinned wryly. He remembered the overwhelming wave of adrenaline he felt whenever he was sent in a Buggy into the Wasteland to take down or pick up whatever required. Not for the first time he felt a touch sentimental, wishing he could go with them.

A small fist rapped him on the head.

"Hey, old man. You're not getting all sentimental on me, are ya?"

Jak grinned. "'Course not, Dax. Me? Sentimental?" He snorted. Just then, another buggy pulled up, shooting dust into the duo's faces. A familiar face hopped out of the buggy, grinning widely.

"Hello boys, long time no see,"

"Sig!" Daxter yelled delightfully. Jak just grinned as he saw his old friend.

"Where's the little one?"

"You mean Jakuelynn? Sorting out something involving Dark Eco and Metal Heads at the old Precursor Monk Temple."

Sig sucked in a breath through his teeth. "I heard 'bout that. Sounds nasty. She gonna be okay?"

"She's my little girl. Of course she'll be fine," Jak grinned with a touch of pride.

"Though she'd be better with _me_ around," Daxter cut in, receiving a double attack of raised eyebrows from Jak and Sig.

~x~

After a lot of bumps and inevitable tussles with Marauders, Jakuelynn and Deimin reached the former Temple. The former parked the Hopper safely and pulled some levers to turn it off. Both tumbled out of the vehicle, listening for any movements. None. It was completely silent, something which unnerved the young woman. She stiffened, and Deimin stood by her, squeezing her hand.

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"Your mouth may say that, but your body says otherwise," Deimin countered softly.

Jakuelynn swallowed, her throat dry. Deimin, the scholar of the two, was always good with words and indeed, with guessing what she really felt, even as children. "L-let's just check out the place. Got your gun?"

"Got it."

The young woman drew out her Morph Gun, changing to her favourite mod, the Vulcan Fury, and took off between the pillars into the decaying building. Wind swirled in through the war-induced holes of the building, adding an extra feeling of hollowness to the atmosphere in the building. The duo's footsteps ricocheted off the walls, eventually reaching their ears. Jakuelynn kept her eyes trained everywhere in her field of vision, a live wire running through her body, making her tense. Deimin was in a similar position, if not as tense as his other half.

"DAY!" she suddenly screamed.

A swarm of Hoppers swept into their fields of visions. The young adults screwed up their faces and pulled on the trigger of their respective Furies until they stuttered into an astonishing rate of fire. Jakuelynn ran head-on into the crowd, shooting until she ran out of ammo, by which she switched to the Beam Reflexor. Her finger began throbbing, but she barely cared as the swarm of Hoppers thinned and finally, collapsed altogether. It was Deimin who took out the last one out with his final bullet in the Fury. He'd been switching throughout the fight, levelling the amount of ammo in his own gun.

Panting, the young warrioress grinned at Deimin. "Good job, Day,"

The young man saluted her cheekily. She laughed and they continued walking for a while, their footsteps swirling around the haunting, echoing hall and their hands intertwined...with the other holding their respective guns, of course. The long corridor opened into a field of sand with a large collection of rocks to the duo's right, where some Metal-Saurs were attempting to break in to presumably get any Dark Eco that resided there.

There were also a group of dark brown-cloaked humanoid figures, several of which were pointing their weapons at Jakuelynn and Deimin.

"DAY!" Jakuelynn shouted again, loading the Blue mod. Her boyfriend snapped out of his slight trance and started with the Wave Concussor, struggling to keep it in the air as it charged. The pair ran forward, their fingers rarely releasing the triggers as wave upon wave of the humanoid creatures fell like dominoes. When the creatures got too close, Jakuelynn also switched to the Wave Concussor whilst Deimin brought out the Beam Reflexor. The Metal-Saurs, alarmed, consistently charged the two, but they successfully avoided each charge, eventually taking them down as well. When the last humanoid creature had flopped thanks to a ricochet, it was only then the two could call it a victory. They checked around for anyone – anything – they may have missed and only high-fived each other when they were sure there weren't any. Panting and sweating, they grinned at each other, adrenaline racing through their veins, fire in their eyes.

"You know," Deimin gasped, "I think I like this adventure stuff."

"Shut up and kiss me, Vulcan boy," Jakuelynn said hoarsely.

Deimin didn't dare defy.


	5. Four: Remember The Feelings, The Day

**A/N: Good evening everybody :) Double update tonight as am celebrating my mother's 40****th****. Hey, marneus and my close friend of 14 years will be there, which makes it excellent. ANYWAY! I know I'm greedy but please review both chapters ^_^ it's just nice. M rating comes in here for one reason only: SEX SCENE. Otherwise, enjoy. **

**Usual disclaimers and threat apply. ~ Mika**

After the post-victory kiss, Jakuelynn checked one last time for enemies and then slumped to the sandy floor against a giant rock, reloading with spare ammo. Deimin flopped down next to her, slipping ammo into his own gun, regaining his breath.

"You know, I've been thinking," he said.

"What about?"

"Us."

Jakuelynn finished reloading and looked at Deimin, confused and a little worried. "What about us?"

"Well..." Deimin hesitated. "We've been going out for a pretty long time and marriage is not an idea either of us are particularly interested in,"

Jakuelynn had to agree. Roah and Zainen's twisted, tense and cold relationship had not given her the best idea of marriage. Deimin's own family life, on the other hand, was stable enough under a single parent, so marriage was simply not overly important to him.

"I was just thinking...maybe we could expand on...what we have."

"What are you getting at, Day?" she asked impatiently, discarding empty shells.

"I w...I want a baby." He bit his lips the second those four words left his mouth. Jakuelynn looked at him incredulously, shifting the gun in her hand.

"You want a kid?" she echoed. "Day, this isn't exactly a great time to talk about it."

_You don't understand, Nel. _"It has to be." He got up and offered a hand to help her up, but as always she refused, using her gun to push herself back on her feet.

"Why now, Day?" They walked on, continuing as before, always alert for enemies. "Is it the blocked vision you mentioned the other day?"

"Yes," he said. They found a small cave that sheltered them from the deadly desert wind. Stars shone in the oval of black in front of them and once the couple were sure no more Metal Heads were going to take them by surprise, they settled down on the sifting, sandy floor and stared at those stars, simply enjoying the silence. Deimin held Jakuelynn in his arms, feeling her body shifting against his.

"Day, I...I don't know what I can say about...about the baby business," she said softly, stammering slightly. "The Dark Eco...in my system...it could affect my fertility. Father said the Eco in his system caused a lot of miscarriages between my brother's birth and mine. B-besides which, what I do...what we do...it's not exactly...safe for an unborn baby."

"Be honest with me, Nel. Did you want a baby?"

Jakuelynn sighed through her nose. "I've never really thought about it, to be honest." She smiled wryly. "Growing up with Zainen and Roah didn't present me with the best example of a loving, secure family. But you...with you...I f-feel that we can...we can create something good together. Just us." She smiled. "So...yes. Only with you, though." She leaned in and kissed him hard, pressing him against her body.

Deimin looked at her. _Now?_

_Yes,_ her glass-green eyes said. _Yes. Now._

The clairvoyant's ability to think left his head as her lips collided with his. He felt material brush past his skin, then suddenly, the sensation was replaced with the night air. He looked at Jakuelynn long and hard as he gave her that same sensation, laying her down on the sand. He swept his eyes over her body as she removed his pants and deliberately brushed her hand against him, making him harder than he'd ever been in his life. He moved over her, kissing her forehead, her eyes, her lips, her neck and moving on to her breasts, roving his tongue around her nipples. Her body bucked beneath him and she let out a moan, grabbing a fistful of his hair. He chuckled, replacing his tongue with his teeth, making her buck more, her moans louder. He lifted his head for a moment, looking straight into her eyes.

"You okay there?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Yes," she hissed. "Please, Day, carry on. _Please_."

"As you wish, my lady," Deimin moaned softly, continuing his lips' adventure down her body, across her stomach and to that warm, secret centre between her legs. He felt her excitement running through her like a live wire, making her tremble even as he tasted her. He would never admit it to her, but she was his drug, his _raison d'etre_. He could never imagine leaving her, or living his life without her. It was simply impossible, and not solely because of the good sex they had either.

"Deimin!" she moaned, her voice ravaged with pleasure. "Fuck me. Fuck me _now_!"

He complied, pushing himself into her and working up a rhythm that increased as her moans turned to growls and she dug her nails into his back. As good as this felt, Deimin stopped as he felt Dark Eco crackle around her.

"Day, don't stop!" she moaned, the lightning around her body and in her nerves increasing.

"Jakuelynn, you're about to go Dark on me,"

"I won't, I promise." She locked eyes with him and he felt a bolt of electricity shoot through his nerves. Those eyes got to him like a bullet to the heart. "I couldn't. Not with you counterbalancing me."

"I believe I am balancing you on something at the moment," he whispered, thrusting hard into her. She let out a piercing cry that bounced off the curved cave walls, but the purple electricity faded as her excitement built and her tension heightened. Deimin worked his hips furiously until Jakuelynn gave one final scream and exploded like a nuclear bomb, followed closely by the clairvoyant. For a long time afterwards, neither of them moved, just lay on the sand tangled up with each other, holding each other tight. Eventually they pulled apart, content to look at each other until they both grew sleepy.

"I love you, Deimin Ghosten," she muttered as her eyes closed, her body pulsing occasionally with aftershocks.

"I love you too, Jakuelynn Mar Hagai." _My princess_. He kissed her lips and the back of her neck as she turned away from him. _My love_.


	6. Five: Watch You Work The Room

_**Sandover City Headquarters**_

Rhogan sat at the desk in his study, observing another day break over the peaceful city. It was still in the process of being rebuilt after the overthrowing of Roah Praxis and the subsequent two-year war that had come with it, but there were no more reports of deaths, unnecessary or otherwise, in the city. His father, Torn, had left the city many years ago – not through Rhogan pushing him out, but his conscience. After his twenty-five year habit of frequent betrayal and double-crossing which lead to the deaths of thousands of Haveners, he did not feel himself able to forgive himself, let alone be forgiven by those who knew of his activities. He kept in contact with Rhogan, but did not come within a ten-mile radius of the city.

"Rho, baby, you OK?" came a sleepy female voice from across the hall. He smiled. His fiancée Lisa, the one woman who had managed to tame him, was awake at last.

"Yeah, honey, I'm fine," he called back. "Just a few things I had to sort out,"

"Well...I've got a 'thing' I want you to 'sort out'. Leave it, Rhogan. Come back to bed."

He sighed through his nose, jolting as his communicator suddenly bleeped. "Give me a few minutes, baby, someone's calling me,"

"Okay!" Lisa called back. Rhogan ducked into another room and opened the channel.

"Dad, what are you doing?" he hissed.

"Do you still need help on the issue with Metal Heads and Dark Eco crates?"

"No, Jakuelynn's dealing with it. Why?"

"You've sent Jakuelynn to deal with it?" Torn sounded astonished.

"Yes, Dad, she _can_ hold her own against those things. Everyone else has failed. If Jakuelynn can't do it – or in the worst case scenario, if Jak and Daxter can't – we're fucked."

Silence from over the comm. "Rhogan, I've found out why the Metal Heads are after those crates of Dark Eco and it's not good."

"Why?" Rhogan demanded. When his father told him, his throat and lungs tightened. It took him ten full minutes to calm down again.

"Rhogan, you must promise me that you won't tell Jak and Jakuelynn this until it becomes a threat to the city."

"NO, Dad, I can't do that. If I tell them now, they'll be able to stop it from happening before it becomes a threat to the city."

More silence. "Fine. Tell them, but nobody else. Don't panic anyone."

"As you wish," Rhogan sighed reluctantly, clicking the communicator off.

~x~

Jakuelynn was the first to stir awake as always. She gazed at her sleeping boyfriend, drinking him in, wishing she had the ability to freeze time completely rather than just slow it down. Reluctantly, she turned to her clothes, pulling them on, breathing in the morning breeze – hot as always. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, they were both alive and Deimin was asleep but for the warrioress, it was not a perfect morning. She had woken up with a twist in her gut, like something was wrong. She stopped, going through everything in her mind to try to undo the knot, but it wasn't working.

"You okay, Nelly?" she heard a sleepy voice behind her ask.

She took a deep breath, rolling over so she was lying with her back to Deimin. Her head spun as if she'd been drinking the night before and it took several more lung-exploring breaths before stability was restored.

"Yeah," she replied shakily. "I-I'm fine,"

"You don't sound it," Deimin replied, concerned. He slipped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her back. Jakuelynn may have been the red-blooded bull-in-a-china-shop warrior woman that her reputation widely proclaimed her to be, but Deimin was her shield; the one who always brought her back if she went too far. He had literally and figuratively saved her life numerous times and she had always repaid the favour.

She made a feeble attempt at lying. "It's just the desert morning."

"Bullshit," Deimin instantly shot it down. "What is it, Nelly?"

"You want the truth? I have no idea." Jakuelynn checked that she had full ammo in all Mods as well as spare ammo everywhere else. She pulled her clothes on as her body convulsed, a wave of sickness spreading through it. "I just woke up with a bad feeling in my stomach and a splitting headache. Oh, and I've also just had a sick feeling go through my body,"

Deimin sucked his breath it. "Yaich. You sure you're going to be okay?"

"Day, this is me you're talking about." Jakuelynn grinned determinedly. "I'll be fine."

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from somewhere near them. Deimin pulled on the last of his clothes and snatched up his own gun.

"Let's go!" Jakuelynn shouted, taking off in the direction of the crash.

~x~

Jak bolted awake in his bed, sweat pouring down his body, heart jumping around in his chest. He had not woken up like that for eight years and he didn't know why. His gut told him something was wrong, however, and he quickly pulled on some clothes and grabbed his communicator, opening a channel.

"Jakuelynn, are you there? Come in!"

The only response was static. Either she was too caught up in combat to answer or something was desperately wrong, which his twisted gut pointed him in that direction.

"Shit," he cursed, grabbing his Morph Gun and charging downstairs.

"Hey, tough guy. You're up early," Daxter remarked, slurping coffee.

"Daxter, I...Never mind," Jak grunted, shooting off towards the large garage.

"Wait! Jak! What is it?" Daxter dropped his coffee and ran after his best friend.

"Can't explain, gotta go. You coming?"

"I smell action...and you wouldn't last a _second_ without me there. Course I'm coming!" Daxter yelled, leaping onto his familiar place on Jak's shoulder. The two leapt into the nearest buggy and took off, almost burning the tyres off as they raced to the Temple.

~x~

Jakuelynn and Deimin, meanwhile, were indeed engaged in combat with a particularly troublesome group of Metal-Saurs and a large group whom were trying to control them. They narrowly missed mortar bombs fired by the larger Metal Heads but both continued to train their attacks on the humanoid-looking group stationed around the Wasteland Caves. Charging the Wave Concussor, Jakuelynn ran head-first into the main crowd, releasing the trigger and killing ten or twenty of the creatures. Deimin, however, stuck to the Fury, being careful not to hit the young woman as he fired.

"Left, Day, left!" she screamed, hitting some of the humanoids on what she could only presume were their heads with the butt of the gun. There were too many of them, but she kept firing and switching until even her back-up ammo had run out and she resorted to hand-to-hand combat. Deimin soon ran out too, having to resort to the butt of his gun. He drove it into stomachs, faces, heads, chests and limbs, doing everything he could to not be touched by one of those things.

"Need help?" yelled a familiar voice and suddenly, many of the humanoids were slammed to the ground by bolts of electricity. Jakuelynn swung her head round to see her father and a relieved grin broke out on her face.

"Jak, I've never been so damn happy to see you!" she yelled back, splitting a skull wide open with her elbow.

"Hey, don't forget about me, little one!" another deeper voice shouted, his own Peacemaker concentrated on the Metal-Saurs.

"Uncle Sig!" the young woman grunted, an aerial spin kick cracking many heads like eggs together. "Long time no see!" A boot to the face took out the final humanoid and she huffed.

~x~

Or at least, they thought it was the last humanoid. Behind the cave Jakuelynn and Deimin had spent last night together, another cloaked figure raised its thin but highly effective gun. It straightened it up, aiming it at the tall, thin figure dressed in black. Aiming it straight for where it presumed the heart was, it pulled the trigger once, a rush of satisfaction rushing through it as it saw the black-clad figure flop in the same.

~x~

Nobody saw anything until Deimin buckled to the ground, falling first to his knees, then keeling over on his back. Adrenaline took over Jakuelynn and she ran as fast as she could, her feet pounding on the hellfire-hot sand, time slowing down around her as the sand around Deimin quickly spread with blood. The wrong senses failed Jakuelynn; she didn't feel the sand whipping in her face, tearing at her skin, neither did she feel the pain as her breath seared her lungs. She only saw Deimin losing blood, losing his life, and only barely heard her own screams.

"_**DEIMIN!**_"


	7. Six: I'm Finding It Hard To Believe

**A/N: Hello everybody! Thanks for your reviews and patience. Here's Chapter Six with a death warning. Feel free to lynch me for this character death. ~ Mika**

Deimin hit the sand, feeling nothing but pain as blue sky filled his vision. He hadn't expected...well..._ that_, quite frankly. He thought all the humanoid figures were all dead.

"Day!" Jakuelynn gasped as she skidded to a halt beside him. She was scared of moving him for fear it caused more pain.

"Nel..." he gasped, groaning in pain. Blood spurted out of him as if making a desperate escape.

"Day, don't talk, I'll try and –"

"Nel..."

"Day! Don't talk. L-let me...please just let me try!"

"Nelly...I'm not going to m-make it...b-but –"

"_No_ Day, you _will_ make it. You must!" Jakuelynn protested, tears clouding her vision.

"Jakuelynn Mar Hagai...listen to me," Deimin gasped. Blood filled his mouth and his body screamed in pain, wanting relief, any relief. "Th-th-that vision I had? The...the one I c-couldn't...tell you about?"

She nodded.

"You were in it."

She shook her head, closing her eyes, inadvertently letting the tears spill down her cheeks. "No, Day..."

"You're pregnant, Jakuelynn. Not...Not from last night, but you're already pregnant. You're going to have a boy..." He grunted as his heart began to give out. "Y-you're going to...have a beautiful...little boy. You're also going to live...through this. Y-you'll keep...keep going...you have to...for me..."

"If...If you knew about this baby, then why didn't you – "

"Vision block, remember?" Deimin uttered a cry of agony as his body revolted against the bullet snuggled deep in his heart. "I c-couldn't tell you..." He sighed deeply, a rattling, shaking sigh, coughing blood. Jakuelynn bent closer to him, seeing his body convulse as if he was being shocked with electricity. She scooped him up in her arms, holding him like a baby, her green eyes locking with his black ones.

"Th-this baby...It's..."

"It's my baby," Deimin gasped. "My little one. J-Jakuelynn...please take...take care of him. You're g-going...to be a great mother. I...I've seen it..."

"Day, no, no. I'm not raising any child of yours without you!" Jakuelynn protested, more tears pouring out of her eyes.

He raised a hand to cup her cheek, the light in his eyes fading. "I love you...Jakuelynn. A-always have done...always will do. A-and...if you f-find my father..." He convulsed further, preventing any more speech.

"I'll tell him about you," the young woman whispered, tears dripping on Deimin's face. "I l-love you too, Deimin." She bent her head, sharing one last kiss with him, feeling the familiar crackle of electricity Deimin's kiss always provided her with go through her body, but it was countered by the overwhelming wave of dread knowing she was losing him. She felt his lips lose their pressure as he slipped away from her, his blasted body flopping in her arms. She opened her eyes, seeing only Deimin's still body, like a life-size rag doll in her arms. She heard footsteps behind her, an "Oh no..." uttered from Jak. Not letting go of Deimin's body, she struggled to her feet and turned to face her father, Daxter and Sig, none of whom were saying anything. It was at that precise moment her knees decided to betray her and vanish completely but Jak rushed forward and caught her before she could crash to the ground. Tears poured from her eyes as her father guided her back to the Buggy and the four of them drove back to Sandover City, Jakuelynn not taking her eyes off Deimin's still form the entire time.

~x~

_**Sandover City Hospital, 14:37**_

Jakuelynn sat motionless on the bed in a thin hospital gown as she awaited the results of the various pregnancy-related tests she had taken. She did not want to think about Deimin, or what had happened that morning, or anything else. She just wanted to find out if what Deimin had told her was true, and if so, how far along she was.

"Miss Hagai?"

She looked up as a nurse tentatively entered the room.

"Doctor Wilson wants to talk to you. It concerns the results of the tests you took,"

Jakuelynn nodded again. "Do I need to keep this on?"

"No, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Thankyou. I'll...I'll be along in a minute." The truth was, she just wanted this to be an incredibly elaborate, detailed nightmare induced by too many years of war and combat. She wanted to wake up back in the temple with Day next to her, snoring like a pig as he always does.

_Did, Jakuelynn. _Did, a small voice reminded her. She shuddered as a wave of grief surged through her and she pulled her clothes back on and followed the nurse through to the Doctor's room. He stood up when she entered, which Jakuelynn hated, although she recognised it as a socially acceptable gesture for what – for whom – she was.

"Miss Hagai, sit down. This may take some time; there is a lot of information to tell you. Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

Jakuelynn shook her head, jaw tight. She hadn't been able to eat anything all day.

"Okay." The doctor sighed. "I can tell you that you are almost six weeks pregnant and there are no problems with the baby so far. However, you will have to be careful with regards to the Dark Eco in your circulation system. It is counterbalanced by the Light Eco, but it is only a delicate balance. If the amount of Dark Eco goes over fifty-one per cent, there is a high chance of losing the baby. There is a small monitor that you could carry around with you..."

Jakuelynn tried to pay attention, knowing this was important. However, she couldn't help but tune the doctor's voice out, pretending to pay attention to him. Her whole body was still, her fingers gripping the sides of the chair. All she could think of was Deimin. Every beat of her heart stuttered his name, every struggled breath carried it. All she saw was the light fading from his dark eyes as his life flew from him.

"...so if you can make an appointment within the next week, we should be able to tell you when your due date is." The doctor smiled at her, and the young woman detected a hint of condescension underlining his words. Whichever doctor she made an appointment with, it wouldn't be with Wilson. She thanked him and left the room, spotting her father and Daxter waiting on the other side of the corridor. He looked concerned as she approached him.

"What was that about?"

"I'm pregnant," she said bitterly, succeeding in making Jak's whole body stop with shock. Daxter blinked for several minutes before slapping himself out of it. "Six weeks along, if you really wanted to know. You're going to be a grandfather. Congratulations."

She walked past them, following the signs to the morgue, feeling nothing but as if she was merely skin-covered rock with a Life Seed between her hips.


	8. Seven: You Never Knew My Heart

**A/N: Hello everyone and thanks for the reviews. I can promise you, JKA, no more character deaths. Weeell...not unnecessary ones anyway. Review, please, or no next chapter. :) ~ Mika**

Jak went outside the hospital and brought out his communicator, opening a channel.

"Rhogan? It's Jak. The Metal Head problem has been resolved, but there's been a terrible accident."

"What kind of accident?" Rhogan picked up immediately.

"A...a death," Jak replied, his voice uncharacteristically faltering. "Deimin Ghosten died several hours ago. You should just...Just get down to the hospital, and I'll be able to explain more,"

"Deimin died?" Rhogan's voice rose several decibels. "Is Jakuelynn all right?"

_Apart from being pregnant?_ "She's...physically, she's fine. I don't know about emotions. She's put up a wall,"

"I'll be down there as soon as I can," the younger man promised, clicking off. Jak shut the channel down and looked in the general direction of the morgue, his reeling mind still processing the day's events. Not only had the boy whom he'd considered a son died in the morning, he was also going to be a grandfather in seven and a half months, should Jakuelynn's pregnancy progress. He wondered how she was coping in there. Was she as stoic and bitterly silent as she had been just now? Was she breaking down? Was she angry? Jak assumed she hadn't gone Dark as there didn't seem to be any disturbance in that section of the hospital.

He hoped she hadn't, for her child's sake.

He looked up at Daxter, who was uncharacteristically silent. The ottsel just shrugged back, lost for words for once in his life.

~x~

The young woman ducked under the doorframe as she entered the freezing cold morgue. Her stomach churned with severe nausea and she doubled over, fighting it until she eventually won. She also felt the Dark Eco in her system pulsing, which was not good for the child inside her.

"Deimin..." she whispered as she reached the trolley on which his body lay, her voice cracking. She gripped his cold hand in hers, wishing he would just wake up and smile at her like he used to, lacing his fingers with hers. "Day, wake up, please...I c-can't do this without you. Never have been able to." She took a deep breath, tilting her head up to the cold lights. She had only cried once in her twenty-five years of living. "This child inside me...h-he needs his father. Day, that's you, why don't you wake up?" Her voice broke at the end, her face screwing up as she fought the emotion in her heart. This was one fight she could not win, however, and her knees once again betrayed her, sending her crashing to the floor as her shoulders heaved and tears escaped her eyes.

"Jakuelynn? Are you okay?" Rhogan ran in, his arm around her shoulders. The young woman uttered a heartbreaking cry of agony akin to a wounded animal, her body shuddering. Rhogan could do nothing but hold his good friend close as she cried what looked and felt like all the liquid inside her. Eventually, her sobs subsided and she was quiet.

"I c-could have s-saved him, Rho," she sniffed, furiously wiping her eyes. "I could have h..healed him and he wouldn't let me..."

"Nel, from what Jak told me, his wound was too bad. I –"

"No!" She threw his arm away, green eyes diamond-hard with anger. "Don't you _dare _tell me you're sorry, or that you understand what it's like. You don't have a fucking _clue_, Rhogan _Praxis_." She was very riled up now, stiff and crouched in defence. Rhogan winced as she brought up the surname he'd tried to rub out of existence. "Deimin – twenty-five years old, whole life ahead of him – that man has saved my life so many times I lost count by Season's end, yet I couldn't save _his_ life the one chance I had to do so." Her jaw locked and she straightened up. "To top it all off, Rhogan, I'm pregnant."

The shock was visible on his face, as much as he struggled to hide it. "You're pregnant? H-how far are you?"

"Six weeks gone. From what I've worked out I'm due around the middle of Winter, if the Dark Eco in my blood doesn't kill my child first," she said, her voice brittle.

"Of course. Your Darker side. I forgot," Rhogan said, almost to himself. "Does this mean you're going to be out of action for a couple of years?"

"_Hell_ no," Jakuelynn shot back. "This baby has given me another reason to make the world safe. It's just Deimin..." She faltered, her shoulders slumping, absent-mindedly stroking the clairvoyant's face.

Rhogan nodded. The reason why those Metal Heads were after the Dark Eco crates was surging to the tip of his tongue, but he clenched his jaw, holding it in. Now was not an appropriate time to tell her.

"Anyway – " she shook her head, shaking herself out of her stupor " – I...I have to go." Her mouth defied her heart's reluctance to leave Day there. He was never keen on hospitals and it didn't feel right to leave him there. She kissed him on the lips one last time, her "I love you" so quiet she barely heard it. Rhogan put his hand on her shoulder and she let him lead her out of the freezer, not letting herself looking back once.


	9. Eight: It's Your Effing Nightmare

**A/N: Thanks for reviews again! Just a premature warning: updating may not be as frequent as it has been owing to academia calling me back tomorrow :(. This first section is dedicated to JKA, because her reviews make me laugh, so I'm giving something back :D Usual disclaimers apply. ~ Mika**

_Twenty-six years ago_

"...Okay. That's six days, right? Wow, that's quick. Okay...right. Thankyou. Bye."

"Jak – " Keira began, a yawn interrupting what she was about to say. She shook her head and started again. "Who was that on the phone?"

"The hospital." He closed his eyes, not wanting to look at her. "I've booked myself in for a vasectomy next week,"

"No!" Keira gasped before she could stop herself. "Why have you done that?"

He turned to face her, taking her hands. "I can't..." He looked away, but a gentle hand on his face commanded him to look back. "Keira, we've tried five times now for another little one and we've failed each time. I can't watch you go through another miscarriage, knowing with good reason that it's my fault." He rested his forehead on hers, closing his eyes. "We've got Damas...we've got a son. Maybe someone's trying to tell us that that's enough; that's all we're going to...to get. I know you wanted a little girl, but it..." It's not going to happen for us.

His wife shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks, her green eyes bright. "We have to keep trying..."

"Honey, it's been five years."

"Other couples have succeeded after trying for longer!"

"Name one," he challenged her.

"Torn and...and Ashelin." Even after twelve years, she could not bring herself to say the name without venom. "It took them seven years for them to have Rhogan."

Her husband's shoulders slumped. A patter of little feet made the couple turn as little Damas stopped in the doorway, sleepily rubbing his deep blue eyes, his blue/green hair sticking out at all angles.

"Mummy, Daddy, why are you shouting?"

"Nothing, sweetheart. Daddy and I are just talking," Keira smiled at her son, scooping him up in her arms. Jak smiled, a warm glow igniting in him as it always did whenever he saw Damas.

"It's loud talking. Is it about the baby?" the five-year old boy wanted to know, burying his face in his shoulder. "Am I getting a baby brother or sister?"

Keira closed her eyes. "Damas, the thing is – "

"Mummy and I are still trying," Jak cut in. "We're going to give it one last try, okay?"

"'Kay," Damas sighed, his voice muffled by Keira's shoulder. She turned to take him back up to bed and Jak could see that his eyes were already closed. "'Night, Daddy,"

"'Night, Day," Jak replied softly. He sat down, waiting for Keira to return, which she did within minutes, her face glowing.

"Were you serious about trying again?" she whispered, straddling his lap.

"Utterly and completely, Keira," he replied, sliding his hands down her slender body. "But I'm serious. This is the last try."

She nodded, running her hands down his torso. "I'm good with that." She leant forward, her hand drifting lower. "Now, c'mon, big boy...take me to bed."

Jak didn't need to be told twice. In fact, neither of them had to be told anything for the remainder of the night, as they tangled themselves in each other.

~x~

_Present day_

Jak remembered that day as clear as if it happened yesterday. Sure enough, eight and a half months later, Jakuelynn was born, completing Keira's wish. The warrior couldn't help but wonder if it had been the same for his daughter and Deimin with regards to their unborn baby, having (accidentally) overheard previous, serious-sounding conversations about their future.

Now, of course, Jakuelynn and Deimin no longer had a future to discuss.

He watched the young woman as she lay motionless on the bed, clutching a jacket of Deimin's. She was exhausted after the day's events and simply did not want to speak to or be around anyone. Her father, however, was a fairly persistent man.

"Jakuelynn," he said from her door.

She didn't respond.

"Can I get you anything?"

"If you can build a Rift Ring and a Rider, travel back several hours and bring D-Deimin back, I'd be extraordinarily grateful," she replied, her voice flat, hard, brittle.

Jak sighed inwardly, closing his eyes. "Nel, you know Rift Rings have been impossible to find. As for the Riders, well..." He let the sentence hang. "We can't...bring Deimin back. You know we can't."

Jakuelynn was silent again, and Jak watched cautiously for the crackle or flash of purple lightning. The large Eco Monitor she was strapped to showed the Light/Dark balance to be 51/49 respectively. A sigh escaped the young woman's lips and she shuddered more.

"You know where I'll be if you need me," Jak said, taking his cue to leave. He didn't know what else to say or do to comfort her. She'd rejected any physical comfort over the past six hours. Jakuelynn listened to his footsteps fade and curled up tighter. The pain was so intense, she felt like she had been stabbed. If she uncurled, the pain would only intensify.

_At least that way I would be with Deimin_, she thought to herself, the pain increasing at the thought of his name. Unable to suppress it any longer, she buried her face into her boyfriend's jacket and let out a long, animalistic howl of pain, floods of tears following it.


	10. Nine: Won't You Set Me Free?

**A/N: Thanks for reviews, as always. For once I do not have anything to say apart from: Oh, hello, unwelcome character from the last story -_- ~ Mika**

_One week later_

It was swelteringly hot, too hot to be wearing black. Unfortunately, that was what Jakuelynn, her father, Daxter, Tess and assorted others were wearing. The only thing that Jakuelynn could thank the Precursors for is that she hadn't been forced into wearing a dress. She had, however, forced a brief smile and a "thanks" every time someone gave her their condolences.

"Jakuelynn, how are you holding up?" a familiar voice asked. Jakuelynn snapped out of her stupor to see Rhogan.

_Not sleeping, not eating, I feel like going Dark every second I am alive, I can't get Deimin out of my mind, I want to kill everyone I see and I have a desperate and overwhelming urge not to feel anything anymore,_ she thought. She did not say anything, merely gave a stiff nod which told him nothing.

"Where's your fiancée?" she asked, a staccato on each syllable.

"She, uh...she's at home," Rhogan replied. "Didn't want to be here today. You understand."

The young woman did. She did not particularly like Rhogan's hairdresser fiancée but luckily she did not have to see her that often. "She didn't know h-him anyway,"

Rhogan nodded in agreement. "Look, uh, I..."

Jakuelynn nodded. "Just go. I see Deimin's mother coming, anyway."

The Haven City Leader nodded, quickly taking off. His Achilles' heel as a ruler was that he was never one for awkward situations, Jakuelynn knew him well enough to know that. She turned her attentions to Nuala Ghosten, whom as always seemed to glide across the ground rather than walk across it. Jakuelynn stepped forward to greet her and to give them a little more privacy, the older woman taking the younger woman's hands in hers.

"Nuala, hi. How have you been?"

The soothsayer swallowed but remained calm. "I should imagine about the same as you. Be careful of the internal and external Darkness." She looked at the young woman with the black eyes she'd passed on to her son for unspoken permission, which she gave. Nuala put her hand on Jakuelynn's stomach. "It risks everything you hold near to your heart, your future included. You must conquer both to achieve the resolution you seek."

Jakuelynn nodded, swallowing. "I'll remember that."

"I know you will, little one." She smiled, touching the younger woman's face. "I've watched you grow from a little girl into the brave warrior woman you are today. I am confident in your abilities, your strengths." She reached up to kiss her cheek. "Remember where I am if you ever need me."

"I will. Thank you, Nuala," Jakuelynn replied, her throat dry. The woman turned away, disappearing into the crowd. The younger woman allowed herself to smile, feeling a little better already.

"Who's she and what did she want?" Daxter piped up nosily.

"Deimin's mother and none of your business." The diamond-hardness had returned to the warrioress' voice. Daxter returned to Jak's shoulder, ears down. Just then, the doors opened and the mass of black flooded in. The young woman stayed by her father, suddenly nervous.

Jakuelynn kept it together throughout the hour-long service, not taking her eyes off Deimin's coffin once. She did not have to say anything for the service, letting Rhogan take the speeches she was meant to do. More than once, Jak supported her as she swayed in her spot, having to sit down at several points during the service. Finally – eventually – it got to the part she'd been dreading. She would be the one whom ignited Deimin's coffin, as per the request made in his will. She found the cluster of Yellow Eco and stepped in it, feeling it surge through her body. She faced the black box, still unable to believe it was Deimin contained in it.

"Goodbye, my love," she whispered, pointing and cupping her hands at the coffin. She closed her eyes and released a fireball, hearing it hit the coffin and ignite it with a _whoosh_. She stepped away from the cluster and returned to her father, not looking back.

~x~

_After the funeral_

She felt him before she heard his whiny, sneering voice pierce her ears. She hoped to the Precursors he hadn't brought Rapace with him, otherwise there was going to be some serious restraint involved.

"Hey, _Princess._"

Managing not to wince, she turned around, instantly relaxing a little when she saw Rapace wasn't with him.

"Hello, Yuhmer," she bit back, a jagged edge on every syllable. "Long time no see."

"Unfortunately." He smirked, and Jakuelynn's stomach clenched in nausea. "So, I see Goth boy has finally kicked the bucket. How'd he go? Slit his wrists?"

She closed her eyes, the Dark Eco pushing inside her veins. Her stomach clenched with nausea and she instinctively grabbed it.

Yuhmer continued, oblivious. "Well, I knew he wouldn't live to his thirtieth. In fact, I was surprised when he hit twenty-one. I've lost a lot of money on betting when that boy takes his life, let me tell you – "

_CRUNCH._

Jakuelynn flexed her blood-covered fist, snarling. Yuhmer clutched his nose, reeling backwards, his eyes hurling insults at her.

"Deimin did not take his own life," she said quietly. "Someone decided to use him as munitions target practice and he wasn't built for that kind of shit. Same as I am not willing to put up with your shit, Yuhmer Krazak. Now get out, and if you ever approach me or my family _ever_ again, I will break more than your nose." A stab of pain shot through her and she fought the urge to double over.

"What's up, Jakuelynn? You kill your child too? Oh yes, I know about your baby. You're killing it, just like you're killing – "

"Krazak, that's _enough_," a voice growled. "Go home to your family or the barrel of this gun will go so far up your arse that you will never be able to sit down!"

"I'm not scared of you, Jak Mar," Yuhmer hissed.

"You should be," Jak snarled. He turned to his daughter, who was doubling over in pain. He snatched her wrist, his eyes widening at the monitor's display. "What, Father? What does it say?"

"48/52. Hospital, now. C'mon!"

Jakuelynn screamed, physically ripping apart from pain. She spiralled into darkness as she flopped into a Buggy, clutching her stomach. Many thoughts were racing through her mind, primarily about her baby, but one thought stood out like the sun's gleam off a razor's edge.

_Deimin, help me..._


	11. Ten: The World From The Eyes Of A Child

**A/N: Thankyou for reviews, usual disclaimers and threat/ plea apply. Thanks also to marneus for helping relieve my pissed-off-ness after a frustrating day. :) ~ Mika**

Jak half-carried, half-dragged his daughter to the Buggy as purple lightning crackled dangerously around her. His heart was riding high in his throat and suffocating him, but he remained calm as he lifted her into the back. She convulsed, letting out a spine-freezing scream.

"Hang on, Nel!" he yelled, almost beating the vehicle into life. Daxter braced himself, clinging on as the vehicle broke numerous Hover laws in the first ten seconds. Jak didn't care whilst his daughter's and unborn grandchild's lives were at risk. The vehicle screamed to a halt as close to the hospital as allowed and several green-clad people ran out towards the car.

"What happened here, sir?"

"All that happened was sh-she got upset and...she doubled over," Jak stammered. The medic nodded. He knew about the Princess and her combined conditions – the pregnancy clashing with the Dark Eco in her veins. He checked her vital signs.

"Okay, we need to take her in and stabilise her, find out exactly what's wrong. It looks like a case of Eco poisoning, but we can't be sure."

"Eco poisoning?" Jak's voice rose a few octaves. "How can that be?" His question went unanswered, however, as four medics lifted Jakuelynn onto a gurney. He followed them into the hospital until they pushed his daughter into a restricted section. He stared at the doors long after Jakuelynn had disappeared through them, letting his legs carry him to the nearest waiting room and prepare for a long wait.

~x~

_**Deep beneath the Central Volcano, the Wasteland**_

Someone pounded heavily on the door. The booms echoed all around the caves, even bouncing off the hot rock that formed the ceilings.

"Enter!" It commanded monotonously, flexing an arm.

A short, stocky man entered as the doors slowly and heavily swung open.

"Ah, _you_. What of the Princess?"

"Details are scarce, I regret to say," the man said smoothly. "I can tell you that she is in the hospital being treated for Eco poisoning."

"Well, that _is_ a surprise. Surely as a Channeller, she would not be susceptible to poisoning?"

"Ah, but there is one vital detail that I caught today. Something that the Princess and her father are trying to keep from getting into the ears of the city's population. Or should that be _another_ thing, considering the secretive status of her...ahem, Darker side."

It sat forward, displaying almost human qualities. "What would that be?"

"She is expecting a child." The man watched It as Its head jerked in surprise.

"She is pregnant?" It responded, a rise in Its voice at the end.

The man nodded, sighing. "Yes, she is."

"How far along is she?"

"She is almost two months gone." The man strolled around the chamber, hands behind his back. He watched Its face for a hint of a reaction. "Another month or two and she will be showing."

"That _is_ interesting." It tilted Its head to one side as if contemplating something. "Well, we've managed to destroy the boy. Obviously that's his seed growing in her..." It broke off, growling mechanically. "We must destroy both of them. The girl and the child."

The man gave a short nod. "It will be done."

~x~

She heard voices as she awoke, but her ears felt like they had plugs in them. Below the waist, it was as if her legs had completely disappeared. A wriggle of her toes soon set that right, however. She checked the rest of her body as she woke up – no aches and pains and the balance of Eco in her body was just right, she saw as she checked her monitor. Her hand flew to her stomach as she remembered her baby.

A gentle voice caressed her ear as she regained her senses."The baby's fine, Nelly. He or she is amazingly resilient,"

"He," Jakuelynn croaked, sitting up and resting her hands over her stomach. "The child I'm carrying is...is a little boy." She looked at the source of the voice and plunged straight into a pair of deep blue eyes. "Father...it's you."

"I've been here since you were brought in," he replied quietly, staring at his feet. "Did...Did Deimin tell you that the baby's a boy before he died?"

Jakuelynn nodded, the pain resurfacing in her heart at the mention of his name. "Father...what happened to me? I don't remember anything beyond breaking Yuhmer's nose."

Jak smiled briefly at the memory. "The medics said you were poisoned by the Dark Eco in your blood. It seemed to turn and attack your immune system. They've never seen anything like it, even with previous Channellers." He put a hand on her shoulder. "It shouldn't happen again, with any luck."

"And my son?" she whispered. She saw her father twist to one side, pulling some sheets of what looked like paper out and shifting himself closer to her bed. They were photos of what looked like an ultrasound scan.

"These are the ultrasounds they took after you were brought in. This is the thing that made them scratch their heads. There, I think, is the baby...See that perfect white ring?"

Jakuelynn had to squint to see it, but see it she did. "I do now."

"That's Light Eco."

She looked at her father. "You mean this...happened after I flipped?"

"No-one knows when it happened. They just know it prevented any Dark Eco in the blood from getting in the baby's system. Whether your body reacted to form the shield or the baby's did, nobody can work out." He smiled.

"E...either way, it's good news," Jakuelynn gasped, feeling winded. She had expected to wake up and be told she had lost the baby. She smiled for the first time in a week, spotting white sunrays paint her hospital bed. Just minutes ago, it had been raining – not heavily, but raining all the same. She was never one to believe in the supernatural, but she felt as if there was another presence in the room close to her, holding her tightly. She rested her head back on the pillow, sighing deeply.

_Thank you, my love._


	12. 11: A Poem For Leaving, A Reason To Go

**A/N: Thanks for teh reviews as always. No double update even though I'm going out tomorrow night...I'm behind on my chapter writing as it is. Going to see Muse at Wembley Stadium tomorrow, VERY excited about it all :D Meanwhile, usual disclaimers apply. Enjoy. ~ Mika**

**PS: Italic'd lyrics are Red Jumpsuit Apparatus' "Your Guardian Angel", which is what I was listening to when I wrote this chapter.**

Months passed, and as Jakuelynn's stomach grew, she seemed to shrink. Her speech diminished until she didn't speak at all, and she barely ventured out the house. She ate enough to support herself and the baby but she shed weight quicker than a snake shed its skin. Most of her days were spent sleeping and even then, there were always the nightmares, which left her waking up screaming or in tears. Most of them were of the months she spent in the Chamber when she was seventeen, some of them were of the horrors of war she'd endured.

Almost all of them involved Deimin.

In those nightmares, he was very close. So close, their fingertips were a whisper apart. He would always disappear as soon as she touched him, however, either suddenly or in some violent way. She would then find him propped up against something – a rock, a heap of burning bodies, anything – badly decomposed, his arms around a small, black-haired, violet-eyed boy. Suddenly, Deimin's eyelids would snap open revealing empty eye sockets or, if Jakuelynn was lucky, a flood of maggots and rotten brains would pour out of those sockets.

Small wonder she woke up screaming.

She had also outgrown all her clothes, which had sent her on a shopping trip with Tess. After days of looking, she'd finally settled on a long, electric-blue/ Eco-green chiffon dress which Tess said complimented her eyes (and hair). It was tailor-made owing to her height and size – when she put it on for the first time, it brushed the floor around her feet. She did not look as bad in a dress as she thought she would, Mar's Amulet settling comfortably on her chest. She wished Deimin could see her – he had always insisted that she would look good in a dress. She almost saw his cocky smile, his "I told you so" look in his deep black eyes.

Whilst she was unable to defend Haven from any attacks, her father was called up. It happened with a frequency progressing as quickly as his daughter's pregnancy and whilst he was glad to feel adrenaline rule over his veins again, he was also reluctant to leave Jakuelynn in spite of Tess' assurance that she would keep an eye on the young woman, "but if you _ever_ let my Daxxie get hurt, then I'm gonna hurt _you_. _Bad._"

Jakuelynn had just rolled her eyes and returned to her workshop. Nobody knew what she did in there, and she would glare at whomever entered, pushed them out and locking the door after them, not emerging for several hours. She was there now and Jak could hear the clangs and bangs of various tools; her only form of communication.

"Jakuelynn?" he called. The noises continued for a while and he shifted, standing more comfortably. Not that he was used to relaxing, but his body was less able to stand for certain periods of time than it used to. Eventually, she opened the door, face smeared with grime, giving him a hard look. _What?_ She had almost finished what she had spent the past six months building in between bouts of exhaustion.

Jak's voice faltered, something he was uncomfortable with. He had a good reason – when his daughter was angry, she was the image of her mother, the only woman whom Jak ever backed down to. "Are...are you...hungry?"

She shook her head but the angry look faded from her face. She tilted her head to the side and looked down at her swollen belly, placing one hand over it before looking back at her father and nodding once.

Jak nodded back. "Okay. I'll bring you something in a minute."

She blinked, her large green eyes sad, and opened her mouth as if to say something. She concentrated, but nothing came out aside from a strange sound that twisted a cough and a choke together.

"Don't worry about it, Nelly." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Just take your time, okay? Don't feel like you have to rush."

She nodded but her eyes were desperate. He squeezed her shoulder once and then went back downstairs. She watched him go, sighing deeply, before turning back into the workshop and closing the door. Her baby kicked hard, temporarily winding her. She chuckled and tightened one last screw before picking up a cloth and starting to clean her now-completed project.

~x~

"Hey, buddy. Get anything out of her?"

Jak shook his head, raising his eyebrows. "Nothing. Well, we got a cough-slash-choke. That's it."

"That's progress, right?" Tess asked.

"It's a breakthrough," he replied, sadness underlying that reply.

"Ahh, well...soon as this kid hurries up and arrives, she'll be back to her usual sexy, kick-arse self! Right, Jak?" Daxter narrowed his eyes when his friend didn't respond. "I said, right...Jak?"

"Honestly, Dax? I don't know. Deimin's death's hit her really hard. She may not be back to normal for a while." _Whatever normal is_, Jak added silently as he loaded up a plate for his daughter. He stared at it as he carried it up to her, knowing she wouldn't eat much from it. He knocked on the workshop door and she stepped out of it, taking the plate from him. She stared at it for a few seconds, then brought her gaze up to his, smiling her thanks. She turned from him, a door making her disappear into her room.

Jak sighed inwardly, returning downstairs to get his own food.

~x~

For the first time in ages, the young woman ate everything that was on her plate and in her room – next to her workshop. She set it down on the floor in front of her – or rather, in front of her bump, considering it had long taken over her body. Once again, Deimin remained at the front of her mind, her heart aching for him more than ever. Everywhere she turned, there were constant reminders of him, from something as simple as a couple on the streets to the Morph Gun that she hadn't used since that terrible day hanging from its strap at the end of her bed.

She crawled on her hands and knees to the bed, pulling out a plain mahogany box from underneath it. In it was every letter, card, drawing, picture and note from Deimin in the twenty-one years they had known each other – he would often leave her little notes at school in her locker, keeping her chin up even on the worse days, when she felt like walking out. She opened the box and picked up a card, which she remembered as being largely composed of lyrics from songs. Opening it, she began to read it, tears welling up in her eyes as they inexplicably found the most heartbreaking one.

_I will never let you fall, I'll stand up for you forever. I'll be there for you through it all, even if saving you sends me to Heaven..._

Tears slipped silently down her face, landing on her bump as the relevancy of those words hit her like a bulldozer. _Oh Day, you did save me. More than once._ She read through the card, tears pouring from her eyes at every love-orientated lyric. She shut it, wiping her eyes quickly, digging through the box and picking out something else – a tiny folded sheet of paper. She fumbled with it, taking a few minutes to unfold, and saw it was yellowed at the edges, scrawled in the hand of an adolescent boy – not the flowing script Day would later adopt once he pressed on into adulthood.

_Nelly;_

_Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass. It's running headlong into the clouds with a massive motherfucking gun, shooting as you go._

_Day_

She laughed aloud, more tears flowing down her face. Her son kicked harder, sending a jolt of pain in her spine. She clutched her belly, uttering a cry of surprise, crouching on her legs. Just then, her waters decided to break on the bedroom floor. Her eyes widened and she struggled to her feet, barely managing to make it to her bed. The door burst open and she saw her father and Daxter in the doorway.

_How did I not hear their footsteps?_ She wondered dully as she fought for control of her body.

"Nel, what's wrong?"

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. More tears escaped in frustration and a contraction shot through her, forcing a scream of pain. At least, she thought it was a contraction. She felt a gush of warm liquid leave from between her legs, soaking the bed. Worryingly, she also saw crackles of Dark Eco around her.

Another pain ripped through her and she didn't remember any more.


	13. 12: When He's Looking, She Falls Apart

**A/N: Hello everybody, thanks for the reviews! Also, considering I have whipped him into recommending me (: ) ), I highly recommend "The Grand Machine" by marneus90 on Fictionpress. He is a very good writer. And my boyfriend, so you could say it's favouritism. ANYWAY. Muse were EXCELLENT as ever last night; they are a brilliant band anyway, though :D**

**Usual disclaimers apply. Also this does not show up on the main Jak and Daxter page because by default it only shows stories rated K **** T and this is an M-rated story. Pretty crap, but ah well. Recommend as well if you think it's good enough :D**

**~ Mika**

**PS: Rufas = pronounced as Rufus.**

Jak stayed by his daughter's bedside as she slept peacefully. All her vital signs were healthy, the Dark Eco in her veins now controlled. He didn't fully understand what had triggered her Dark side like that, but apparently it had been coming for a while. The stress of the pregnancy combining with grieving for Deimin had admittedly left her vulnerable in the last seven months. Guilt seeped into his heart for not noticing the signs earlier.

He almost fell out of his chair when Jakuelynn shot awake, sitting straight up, panting, pupils contracted. She turned to her father and tried to haul herself out of the bed, but cried out in pain, doubling over.

"Jakuelynn, don't try and get up, you've just had a Caesarean!" Jak protested, getting up and attempting to help her.

She swatted him away angrily, like a fly. "Where's my baby?" she rasped, the first words she'd spoken in six months.

Jak was so stunned that she was speaking that he didn't answer her until she grabbed his clothes, bringing her face closer to his.

"Where. Is. My. Son?"

"He's in Intensive Care!" he gasped, clutching at his daughter's hands, trying to avoid the purple lightning crackling around them. "He's stable, but when you went Dark, he got a flood of Dark Eco in his veins which poisoned him. The doctors had to get you back to normal, then perform an emergency Caesarean on you. What are you doing?"

"This is my _son_ we're talking about, Father, I have to see him!" Jakuelynn protested. "Where's a wheelchair?"

"Wait there, I'll go find one. No...Wait there, Jakuelynn Mar Hagai!" he added sternly. She sat back in her bed, her maternal and warrior instincts combining in her and providing one overwhelming urge as he ran off to find a wheelchair. Purple lightning crackled at her fingers again and she prayed her father would hurry up with a wheelchair. Which he eventually did, helping her into it before she took control, racing off to Intensive Care quicker than Jak could keep up. The wheels became hot quickly, making a strange sound as she braked hard.

"Miss Hagai, it's been recommended that you stay in your bed – "

"I want to see my baby," Jakuelynn gasped, cutting the nurse off. "Please, let me see my son and I'll go back quietly,"

Behind her, Jak raised his eyebrows – _Precursors, she IS desperate to see him, she never agrees to go quietly _ – but said nothing.

The nurse thinned her lips, exhaling a breath that sounded like high-pressure steam. "I'm not sure..."

"Please, madam. She is desperate," Jak tried, unconsciously resting his hand on his daughter's wheelchair.

The woman shrugged. "Oh, all right." Her face softened in a smile. "He's a beautiful little boy. Congratulations. Let me take you to him."

Jakuelynn looked at her father, the purple lightning fading from around her limbs. "Come with me, Jak. Please. Come and see your grandson." She kept her eyes focussed on him until he dropped his shoulders, giving in eventually.

"As long as it's okay with you," he replied.

She squeezed his hand to let him know it was, smiling. For a split second, Jak saw Keira in her face, and he smiled back, following her as she wheeled herself behind the nurse.

~x~

"Here you go," the middle-aged woman said gently, stepping back to allow the new mother to see her son for the first time. And see him she did, in all of his newborn fragility, tufts of black hair resting on his scalp. He was asleep, his face turned on the side and Jakuelynn wheeled herself closer to look at him properly. The Dark Eco in her veins seemed to retreat as soon as she slipped her hand into one of the round holes by her child's hand, gently taking it in her own, subtlely transferring a little Light Eco to him. Tears filled her eyes, her throat stopping as her son curled his tiny fingers round one of her own, clenching it tight.

"H...he's beautiful, Jakuelynn," Jak whispered, emotion quavering in his voice in spite of himself. "Have you thought of a name for him?"

"I have," Jakuelynn replied calmly, finally noticing that the Dark Eco had stopped crackling around her. "Rufas. Rufas Day Mar Ghosten."

The new grandfather tried the name out in his head. "Rufas Day. Sounds like the name of a pop singer,"

Jakuelynn chuckled. "It also sounds like the kind of name Deimin would come up with." Pain pulsed from her stomach at the mention of his name, but it wasn't as severe as it had been in the last six months.

"It does," Jak agreed, unable to take his eyes off his grandson. _Rufas Day_. It was perfect for the little one in the plastic crib. He would have to stay there for a few more days, but somehow the older man had the stubborn belief in his gut that Rufas would fight hard and come home quicker than the hospital would have ever guessed.

After all, fighting was in his blood.

Jakuelynn spent almost half an hour longer with her baby son, just watching him exist, her mind reeling. Never in a million years did she ever guess that she would include this chapter in her life, but here she was, her finger in a tiny hand. It was her's and Deimin's _son's_ tiny hand, too. When they were younger, they would often joke about how they would get married and have a big family together. As they grew into their teenage years, it would be their parents' turn to joke about it.

"Day," she whispered, "if only you could see him."

Once again, the temperature of the room seemed to raise by a few degrees. Even though Jakuelynn wasn't the only new parent in the room, the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up as if feeling another new presence.

_I can see him._

She rubbed her ears with her free hand, wondering if she was fully awake from the Caesarean.

_I'm always here, Nel. You don't have to look for me._

"I know, Day." She smiled, her hand unconsciously closing round Mar's Amulet around her neck. "I know."


	14. 13: Before You Tell Him Goodbye

**A/N: Thanks for reviews, everyone! Usual disclaimers apply. Early update again. Read, review, enjoy, tell others. Sorry about the abruptness, I'm really tired tonight. :) ~ Mika**

Two weeks later, Jakuelynn was able to pick her son up from the hospital. The Dark Eco in his blood had diminished to the point where he could come home, if not vanishing completely. Another month passed, during which the new mother noticed physical changes in her son already, aside from growing bigger. When his eyes were open, she – and Jak – noticed that they were a startling shade of dark violet, a combination of Deimin's and Jak's father Damas' eyes. Rufas also had a cap of black hair much like his father, which had spread over his scalp over the last two weeks.

"He's certainly sleeping well," Jak whispered. Tess and Daxter had gone out for the night, leaving father and daughter alone in peace.

"Yeah," Jakuelynn agreed, taking a big gulp of Yakow milk. The project she'd been working on for months prior to Rufas' birth was, in fact, a self-rocking cradle complete with a built-in baby monitor. The new mother had also gone to the trouble of making sure it was bulletproof, fireproof and had a combined heating and ventilation system for Summer and Winter days, as well as being comfortable enough for her newborn. "I think that's a lot to do with the cradle, though,"

Jak smiled. "Did you do Mechanics classes?"

"I did. It was a school option." Jakuelynn ran her finger around the edge of the glass. The times she did venture out of the house, she rented a copious amount of books about heating and electronics systems from the local library. "One of the few classes I got more than a Two in, along with Physics and Mathematics." She smiled. "Of course, if I'd known at sixteen what I know now, it would have been less hard for me to work out where those skills came from." She chuckled, finishing her milk. She had developed a craving for it whilst she was pregnant and it had lessened after Rufas' birth, but had not disappeared completely.

Just then, her baby monitor woke up as Rufas sounded his hunger. She raised her eyebrows at her father. " 'Scuse me," she said, getting up to see to her son.

Jak nodded, swirling his own drink around, lost in his own thoughts. Although Jakuelynn looked and acted a little more like herself since Rufas was born, he still saw the pain and anger in her eyes. It took on a physical sign, swirls of black in the irises which, he'd only noticed recently, had flecks of deep blue reminiscent of his own. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, remembering when the darkness had dominated her the most.

~x~

_**Six and a half months ago**_

Jak arrived to a silent house. Remembering the silence that fell after the deaths of his family, this made him uneasy. He paused in the hallway, tilting his head, listening for any movements from Jakuelynn in her workshop.

"Jakuelynn?" he called uneasily, knowing she would barely answer. Instinct taking over, he ran upstairs and pressed his ear to the workshop door. No sounds, not even breathing. This alarmed him and he ran to her room, pressing his ear to the door. This time he had some luck; heavy breathing confirmed that she was in there. For some reason, the clench of alarm didn't relax in his stomach and he tried the door.

Locked.

But there was no lock on the door. When Deimin was alive, Jakuelynn was always completely honest with Jak, so he knew not to barge in and be nosy, whether they were discussing future plans or building towards them.

"Jakuelynn!" he tried again, voice displaying his alarm. "It's me. Let me in."

The breathing got heavier and stuttered as it was released, as if a car was breaking down. Jak suddenly remembered that his daughter's Morph Gun was in there with her. Unused since the day Deimin died. Fully loaded.

_Oh shit_.

"Jakuelynn, let me in!" he called, pleading with her. He pressed his hand to the door, using a small Light Eco shield to melt the metal that stood between himself and a severely depressed, pregnant daughter. He shoved the door open, his breathing freezing when he saw Jakuelynn sitting against the wall, knees bent, her Morph Gun on the Scatter mod and pressed against her forehead.

"No, little one, no," Jak whispered, running to her and attempting to prise the gun from her grip. She lifted her head and looked at him directly in the eyes. The green of her irises had shrunk, a blackness overtaking them. _Not the whites_, Jak noted with a small flex of relief. _It's not Dark Eco. Just pure anger and grief._ He could only watch as she returned her head to the barrel of the Red Mod, not relaxing her grip.

Out of the corner of his eye, he found a piece of paper by her feet. He picked it up and unfolded it, eyes scanning over the words.

_It's very un-warrior-princess-like of me to put a Scatter Gun to my head but even warrior princesses have feelings. Even they have Achilles' heels. Deimin just happened to be mine; my shield, the one thing I couldn't continue this life without._

_I'm sorry._

_Jakuelynn Mar Hagai_

"Jakuelynn..." He began, noticing his voice was shaking. He closed his eyes, taking a breath. "I...I know how you feel, but this isn't the right way to go about it. Honestly." He bit his lip so hard he pierced it, blood resting on his tongue. "You need to keep going. Think of Deimin. I know y-you can't see, hear or feel him like you used to – " A loud sob like a bullet broke his sentence from the gun of her mouth. Her shoulders began shaking. He paused for a while before continuing. "You can't see him, but he's there. He's with you..." He paused again, resting his hand on her stomach. "He's a part of your child. If you take your life, you take the last part of Deimin with you." He quickly removed his hand before she slapped it away. She shook more, and Jak's worry grew, not knowing whether her Darker side was going to emerge or she would pull the trigger.

With an anguished cry, she threw the large gun to the other side of the room and collapsed into her father's arms, her body shaking with exorcising sobs. He held her tightly, rocking her like a baby, stroking her long blonde hair and doing everything he could to comfort her. He knew it wouldn't be enough; the pain would remain with her until she found it in herself to let go.

As she slept later, Jak burned the note, scattering the ashes outside the window, leaving them to the desert wind.

~x~

_**Present time**_

A tremor brought Jak out of his reverie and he instinctively grabbed his own Morph Gun just as Jakuelynn re-entered the room, brandishing her own.

"Viking Queen, come in, this is Word Runner," Rhogan crackled over her comm.

"VQ in, Runner, what's the tremours?" she barked into her communicator.

"Metal Heads are attacking the city, VQ. You and Big Daddy able to come in?"

'I'll go,' Jak mouthed. Jakuelynn nodded, turning her attention back to the comm. "I'm not able to go, but Big Daddy is,"

"Junior?" Rhogan questioned.

"Yeah, no-one at home to take care of him." Jakuelynn sighed inwardly, hoping Tess and Dax weren't in the part of the city being attacked.

"Got it. Runner out,"

"VQ out." Jakuelynn closed the channel and look at her father. "You sure you're alright to do this? I know your shoulder's been giving you trouble lately..."

"Jakuelynn, you do realise this is me you're talking to," Jak interjected, raising green eyebrows.

_My headstrong, gun-wielding, arse-kicking father? _She raised her own back. "That's true. Okay then, I won't – "

He was gone before the words left her lips, followed by a conveniently-returning Daxter – "Hey, Jak? JAK! WHERE ARE YOU GOING, OLD MAN?" – and Tess, who shrugged and darted to the young woman.

"I'll look after Rufas. You go," she said, perhaps seeing the desperation for a piece of the action in Jakuelynn's eyes.

"Are you sure?" Jakuelynn asked seriously. Part of her wanted to take care of her infant son, the other part wanted to take care of those invasive Metal Heads.

"You look like you're desperate to be in the middle of it all," Tess chuckled.

_I am_. "Thanks ever so much, Tess. I owe you one!" Jakuelynn called as she sprinted after her father. "Father, WAIT!"

_Like father, like daughter_, Tess thought fondly as she darted up to Rufas' room.


	15. 14: You Can't Be Too Careful Anymore

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Sorry for lack of update last night, I wasn't feeling very well :( no, no double update tonight, I'm still behind (currently drafting Chapter 22 as you're reading, unless you read this at 0200 GMT, in which case I'm sleeping). Read, review, spread like butter. Usual disclaimers apply. ~ Mika**

Jakuelynn caught her father just in time. Ensuring that she had full ammo plus spare as always, she deflected the look her father gave her and strapped herself into the buggy.

"Did Rhogan say where the battle was?" Jak asked, but he didn't need a reply. A flaming rock arced in the sky, leaving a thin yellow line before landing on the ground, sending tremors through the ground. "Dead Town."

"Step on it!" Daxter yelled, wrapping his body around a pole as the car raced off towards the centre of the battle.

"What's with you, Dax? You _never_ want to be in the thick of the battle!" Jakuelynn yelled over the noise of the engine.

Daxter would have shrugged if he wasn't holding on for dear life. "Well, I, er...gotta look out for Jak here!"

"As always?"

"As always. Cause, you know, he's gotta keep MY tail safe, hasn't he?"

Jakuelynn rolled her eyes as her father reached the centre of the battle, screeching to a halt in a way that almost gave them all whiplash.

"You ready?" he yelled, switching to his preferred Mod.

"Always!" Jakuelynn shouted back, spotting large mortar bombs being fired at the centre of the city, lighting orange when they struck. "Let's go!"

~x~

_He_ watched the carnage from the shielded ship in the clouds, firing on the city that had spawned, knocked him about and hated him all his life. He smirked with satisfaction when the old, creaky houses of Old South Haven immolated like the fires of Inferno, if such a place existed. The thought that pleased him the most was the thought that _she_ would be there, her and her father, right in the thick of it as always. From what he'd learned about the Mar clan, they were a family whom were always the first warriors in any fight. Hot blooded, all of them, which had resulted in very few of them dying of old age.

"You'd better be down there, Jakuelynn Mar Hagai," he sneered, his anger displayed in the ferocity of which he handled the ship's guns. "You'd better be. Then I can take care of you like I've taken care of your clairvoyant boy..."

~x~

_BANG!_

Rhogan shot around, grabbing his gun and pointing it at a tall, thin, cloaked figure whom had just slammed its way into the Headquarters. Quickly, the hooded figure threw back its hood, revealing –

"Dad! What are _you_ doing back in the city?"

Torn looked at his son, icy eyes firey."You didn't tell Jak and Jakuelynn?"

"About what?"

"About the Metal Heads and the crates of Eco?"

"You haven't heard?" Rhogan retorted. "Jakuelynn lost Deimin several months ago. She also gave birth to his son two weeks ago. She's never wanted to talk about Metal Heads or crates of Eco since."

"She's a mother?" Torn's voice softened.

Rhogan nodded. "Yes, and from what I can tell, she and Jak are down there now, in the middle of the conflict."

"Where's the army?"

"Also down there." Rhogan watched as a Metal-Saur fell, crushing a row of blazing houses. He closed his eyes, turning away from the carnage. Torn grabbed his shoulders, turning him around.

"Rhogan, this is your city!" he snarled. "Never turn your back on it. _NEVER._ I'm going down there. You stay on the comm."

"Yes, Dad," Rhogan said obediently, feeling like a teenager again.

~x~

Down on the ground Jakuelynn switched to her Peacemaker, struggling with its weight as she fired it off at a group of Metal Heads. _Struggling with its weight?_ She thought, a ripple of satisfaction spreading through her as three crashed down, dissolving into globs of Dark and Light Eco, which she absorbed with ease. She switched to the Blaster, sending one sprawling on its front as it tried to sneakily attack her father. Another bullet sent it to Inferno, or Hell...whatever those _things_ believed in, if they believed in anything.

She gritted her teeth and spun a circle on her feet, firing off in all directions erratically. She didn't see whom or what she hit or missed; there was simply no time for it. Mar's Amulet bounced against her collarbone as she took out wave upon wave of Metal Heads, switching Mods and firing constantly. A rush of heat burned up the air quickly and she dived to the ground, rolling away before it could strike her. Time was a blur to her; a case of pointing and shooting or, if she was feeling significantly less angry, hand-to-hand combat, usually involving the butt of her Morph.

Suddenly, something in the sky caught her eye. She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but her gut was twisted whenever she looked back at it in between defending herself and Sandover civilians. It was an extremely large round object that looked like a mortar bomb, but it was dark purple and left trails of Dark Eco behind it, obscuring the stars in a sky tainted with the smoke of war.

"What is _that?_" she heard Jak exclaim from behind her. She whipped round, stunning a Metal Head with the butt of her gun as she did. He'd seen the large unknown object as well and was standing, transfixed by it. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her towards him when she realised it was heading straight towards him.

"Father, _watch out!_" she yelled, pushing him out the way and throwing herself in the air just as the large object struck the ground. The impact unleashed a bright light and a strong wave of heat at the object exploded, unleashing a bright flash as the heatwave spread through the whole city. It knocked Jakuelynn backwards, sending her head colliding with a concrete wall and knocking her out completely.

Jak, however, could only watch as the wave surged through the whole city, taking every building in its path.

~x~

In his ship, he watched as the wave of heat from the Bomb flattened every building in its wake, destroying everything he hated. Including, he hoped, Jakuelynn. If he'd managed to kill her father too, it would be a bonus.

And It would reward him handsomely, It had promised him so.

He grinned, watching the panic that ensued as the wave ceased its path of destruction. After a while, he turned the ship and flew it back to base, where It was waiting, reward in Its hands, as promised.


	16. 15: I Wonder If I Ever Cross Your Mind

**A/N: Hello everybody! Thanks for the reviews. Sorry about the slightly late update, I was waging a war with eBay. Want a brand new Rode S1 Condenser microphone for £170? Go to eBay right now. Anyway...here's chapter 15. Wait...FIFTEEN? That was bloody quick. Usual stuff applies. ~ Mika**

**PS: Marneus...your "eyebrow thing" is here. ;)**

When Jakuelynn opened her eyes, the day was breaking into a delicate shade of blue, marred only by the thick trails of black smoke crossing it. Her head was pounding and when she touched it, her palm came away sticky with blood. She got up slowly, not wishing to lose consciousness, and looked around for her father.

All she saw was pure destruction not seen on this end of the scale since Roah Praxis was in charge. Her thoughts, however, were different; they were of her family, of Rufas especially. _What if he's been injured or killed?_ Her maternal instincts kicked in and she raced home on foot, any injuries completely forgotten as her heart pounded.

"Jakuelynn! Get in!" someone called, screeching to a halt beside her. She skidded to a halt on her heels, recognising the voice calling to her. She hopped into the vehicle, only barely having time to strap herself in before Jak took off in his customary habit of breaking every Sandover speed law within the space of a breath.

"You're okay," she said once they'd arrived at the house. He looked at the back of her head, the blood a sharp contrast against her green/blonde hair.

"You're not," he said. He seemed annoyed and Jakuelynn couldn't figure out why.

"I'm fine. What about everyone else?"

He didn't answer her.

"Okay, Jak, what aren't you telling me?" She stopped in front of him, forcing him to stop.

He sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Jakuelynn, after the big bomb hit last night, you went Dark. I'm not entirely sure why you did, but that bomb may have had something to do with it. After you went Dark you went on a rampage. You didn't kill anyone!" he hastily assured his daughter, seeing the horrified look on her face "but people saw you, recognised you. Desert whispers are going round the city already. They want you out of here."

Jakuelynn closed her eyes, keeping her breathing even. She had worked hard to hide her Dark side from the city for many years, known only to her family and Rhogan. Suddenly, she remembered the purple trails the bomb emitted, which she now realised was Dark Eco.

"I was exposed to Dark Eco through that bomb," she gasped. "Though if you remember _me_ going Dark, why didn't you got Dark?"

Jak shrugged. "I j...I have no idea." He cleared his throat. "There's been a meeting called tonight. Mostly about the Metal Head attacks, but you're a...you're going to be discussed." He said the last five words haltingly, in a staccato style.

"I'm going to be..." Jakuelynn trailed off. Rufas began crying from inside the house and the young woman ran in to tend to him. Holding her baby in her arms gave her a calm dealing her own brand of justice to those whom were rotten to the core did not. After she'd fed him, she cradled him in her arms, watching as his dark violet eyes close in sleep. Her eyes filled with tears as she held him close to her, rocking him back and forth, humming an old lullaby to him. She knew that if the council decided that they wanted someone out of Sandover City, it would usually be followed by a lifetime banishment to the Wasteland. Looking at the little boy in her arms, Jakuelynn wondered how she could ever be separated from him. He was a baby; _her_ baby; he needed her as much as she needed him.

She felt rather than heard Jak stop, hesitantly, at the door. She tore her eyes away from her son and looked at her father, tears spilling down her cheeks. Rufas stirred and she gently rocked him back to sleep, putting him in his customised cradle, kissing his forehead and leaving the room. She brushed away her tears as she closed the door and faced her father.

"Nel, what's up?" he asked gently.

"Oh nothing. J-just post-baby hormones," Jakuelynn protested, but she was lying and Jak knew it.

"You worried about what the council are going to say?"

She nodded, jerking a thumb towards the door. "I'm not leaving him if...if something does happen,"

"The Wasteland is no place for a baby."

"And this Dark shit isn't my _fault_," Jakuelynn hissed, coming close to slamming a fist in the wall.

"I know," her father said, lowering her fist with his hand. He was helpless for words as his daughter stood there, nails digging into her palms, trying not to scream in frustration. Eventually, her shoulders dropped, all the fight going out of her as she turned towards the door. Jak put a hand on her shoulder and she turned back towards him, body slumped.

"Come on. Come downstairs." Jak gave a small smile. "Tess is worried sick,"

"Tess?" The young woman laughed silently but incredulously as she followed her father downstairs. "I thought she hated me!"

"Tess doesn't hate you. Want to know why?"

"Why?" Jakuelynn hopped off the last stair.

Jak failed to suppress a chuckle. "Because you are the only woman who gives Daxter a frosty reception when he flirts with you." His chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh as his daughter shuddered, remembering all the times the ottsel _had_ flirted with her.

~x~

"So she will be kicked out of Haven?" Lisa Traditore asked him.

"Undoubtedly. I may not be the Council Chairman, nor do I possess mind-altering powers, but I can sway people to see my view if necessary." The young man smirked. "It's happened many a time before and it'll happen again and again. Your fiancé may rule the city, but he does not rule over the Council."

"Undoubtedly," the woman purred. "And after the banishment?"

He looked at her, a little confused. "What do you mean, after?"

"Would you have her family taken care of?"

He sucked in his breath. "Now, that would drag me down to the level Roah Praxis used to inhabit. And many may not hold a high opinion of me, but I am not that evil." He looked at her. "Why, would you?"

Lisa tilted her head and locked eyes with him, conveying her answer in that distance between their faces.

"Then it's a good thing you are not on the Council," he said, pulling her close, looking her up and down. She felt desire pulsing through his body like a heart beating, and she put her mouth to her ear.

"How long do we have before the meeting?"

He checked the time. "Quarter of an hour. Why..." He raised one eyebrow, which quivered a little as he held it. "Are you suggesting we do something?"

"Of course," she whispered, one finger running down the side of his neck. "Rhogan won't miss me. He's preparing Jakuelynn's defence, as he has been doing for the past three hours – " She broke off as he hissed, recoiling.

"Do not _speak_ her name in my presence!"

"Okay, Yuhmer...I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She put her hands on his forearms. "Sounds like you need to relax. How long did you say we had?"

He wrenched himself away from her and stalked off. She twisted her mouth as he did, his footsteps fading as they bounced off the walls and into her ears.

_I should have told him about Rufas Day._


	17. 16: Because I've Got Enough To Spare

**A/N: Hello all, and welcome back and apologies to The Beckster due to forgetful memory :/ thanks for reviews, as always. Almost at the 40 mark and roundabout halfway through the story! Maybe...not sure how long this is going to be. Usual disclaimers apply as always. ~ Mika**

**PS: Nappies = diapers. :D**

_**Four hours later**_

Rhogan clutched his head as he left the Council Chamber, feeling an ache lance it like a spear. He felt for his communicator, remembering that it was up in his room. He looked around as the council filed out, not saying a word, as always. Their silence unnerved him, and he escaped to his personal quarters. Lisa was out tonight, not desiring to be any part of the Council's dealings as always. His heart sank into his stomach as he realised what he'd have to do, assuming Jakuelynn was still awake. It was extremely late and unless she was conveniently tending to her son, he didn't imagine she would be so.

He reached his study and sat down at his desk, communicator in hand. He ran the pad of his thumb over the buttons and the speaker, staring at the green screen. He bit the tip of his tongue with the pointed back half of a molar and opened a channel to Jakuelynn, preparing himself to be the recipient of her anger.

~x~

Jakuelynn had just settled Rufas and was on her way downstairs when her communicator bleeped at her hip. She always had it with her by default in case Rhogan needed her...as he did now, she saw as his name flashed up on the screen. She went outside the back on the grassy knoll and opened the channel, standing in the silver light.

"Jakuelynn in, I was already awake. This about the Council meeting?"

"Yes, it is." He didn't say any more on it, which was unusual for him. He normally elaborated on for several minutes, often leaving her standing, hence why his call name was Word Runner.

"Rhogan, you're not word running as normal. What is it?"

"Jakuelynn, I'm sorry...I fought for you. I did. But myself and everyone else who fought for you...we were over-ruled. They're kicking you out of Sandover. You're going to be officially banished tomorrow, at the eleventh hour, literally and figuratively."

The warrioress sat down on the grass, watching the dark waves lap, destroying each other in the process. Sandover City may not have been as war-torn or devastated as it had been in the past, but evidently, people were still stabbing each other's backs, destroying _them_ in the process.

"Are you still there?" Rhogan's voice crackled over the speaker.

"Yes," she replied, her throat dry. She suddenly realised what she had to do. "I-I'm signing off, Rhogan. If it's the last good night's sleep I'm ever going to have, then I'm going to take advantage. Jakuelynn out."

"Okay. I'm just...I'm sorry I couldn't do any more. Rhogan out."

She closed the channel, switched the communicator off and ran back upstairs to her room. She dragged a large, light bag out from under her bed and started filling it with clothes for herself and Rufas – nappies for her little one included, naturally – and once she'd shut and shouldered it, picked up her ever-faithful Morph Gun, which now contained a strap which crossed her body diagonally. She took the baby carrier and crossed into Rufas' room, being superspy-careful not to wake Jak, Daxter or Tess as she picked her son up and put him in the carrier, rocking him when he began to stir. She left her keys on the table downstairs as a way of confirming to herself that she would not be returning. She didn't want to do this, but she would rather run and be alive for Rufas than be banished and never see him again.

She got to the Sand Shark and strapped Rufas into the sound-and-bulletproof container she'd built after his birth (in addition to the cradle), slinging her bag into the passenger seat. She was just about to get into the driver's side when –

"Where are you going?"

Jak was standing directly across from her, hurt in his eyes. How she hadn't heard him follow her, she'd never know.

"Father..."Jakuelynn tried, but she'd felt like she'd been winded. She had seen many emotions in those dark blues of his, but never hurt. To be more precise, she'd never seen hurt that she had caused.

"Did Rhogan give you bad news?"

"I'm not going to be living here after eleven hours tomorrow," she cut in, dully. "So Rufas and I...we're going to Spargus. I just don't want to fight any more; I'm done with saving the world when it falls. I want to see my son grow up safe and well." She lifted her head a few centimetres, looking him straight in the eyes, softening her tone. "I don't want to see what you've seen, Father. Your family decimated the way they were."

Jak bit the insides of his cheeks. "Jakuelynn, don't run like this. It's not going to go away. None of this is. It's...it's certainly not like you to run."

"Watching Deimin die has told me different," Jakuelynn retorted bitterly. "I'm leaving with what I have left whilst I still can. You're free to come with me if you want."

_Jakuelynn, don't let me lose you._ "I can't. You know I can't."

_Yes, Jak, yes you can._ Now Jakuelynn wasn't so sure about leaving Sandover.

"Nel, listen to me." _Stay, little one. Stay, _Jak pleaded silently as he walked round the buggy to his daughter. "Everyone has their time of trial, whether civilian or warrior. For some, those trials never end. With us...with the Mar clan...we are those people. I've learned this in my life. Please, Jakuelynn, stay. Face this storm and I'll be there when it ends, I promise."

An involuntary tear slipped out of the warrioress' eye. "What if I don't make it through the storm?"

"You will. I know it. Want to know why?" Jak had a half-grin on his face. "Cause you're my arse-kicking, gun-toting, running-into-storm-clouds daughter and I am _damn_ proud of you. Besides which, you've seen much worse in your quarter of a century, have you not?"

Jakuelynn shrugged. "I suppose."

"So give me the bag. Give me the gun. Get Rufas out and come back inside." Jak smiled. "I have something for you. Something which I should have given you a long time ago."

~x~

The night air whipped the black sand up in swirls reminiscent of a tornado, but the figures in the cave were well protected. The youngest of them, only five years old, huddled close to his father's side, wrapped in a thick cloak. His older siblings, seven and ten years old respectively, watched the cave entrance from slits in their own protective clothing, but saw no signs of any enemies approaching. They did not remember a fixed home, having been on the move since before their memories began.

"Seem?" their father asked. "Do you see anything?"

"I see nothing, Saldam," the monk replied in her raspy voice. "But my instincts tell me that she will arrive very soon. But she's in mortal danger at this very moment."

"Papà, who is 'she'? Why are we waiting for her?" one of the Saldam's sons asked.

"Ah. That, Kieron, is what you'll find out soon, with any luck," the older man responded, smiling warmly. "All I can tell you is that she will be vital in saving this planet from its darkness."

"What does 'vital' mean?" the youngest child piped up, her dark blue eyes gazing into her father's own.

"Important, Jayelle. It means important," Saldam explained, gently teasing his daughter's hair. So much like her mother; so full of questions. "Sleep now. I will wake you when she arrives,"

"Okay," Jayelle sighed, snuggling down and falling asleep within minutes. Saldam covered her with her cloak to protect her from the deadly wind, his eyes keeping watch over the desert.

Waiting.

For her.


	18. 17: Things Still Look The Same

**A/N: Ciao, ragazzi, e grazie per gli osservazioni (Hi guys, and thanks for the reviews)! ****Because I'm so nice and don't want to keep you waiting fur an update (as I'm out tonight), I'm updating early. Major "Jak 3" reference/ spoiler in this chapter. Wait, spoiler warnings? Never. Anyway, read, review, enjoy, recommend...or no cookies LOL jk I'll sic Jakuelynn on you. ~ Mika**

"Wait here," Jak whispered to his daughter as he disappeared into his room, opening a drawer by his bed. The armour in the drawer, layered with dust from lack of use but dented from copious use previously, glinted dully in the moonlight. He ran a finger over it, the darker orange of the metal gleaming more brightly, smiling as he remembered all the times he'd worn it. He hadn't worn it since he was reunited with his daughter; now, this was hers.

_I should have given it to her years ago_, he thought, slipping a hand under the last piece of the piled armour and shutting the drawer with his foot. He balanced the pile in his hands, holding it tightly, being careful to not let it wobble or fall. He squeezed out of the door and stood in front of Jakuelynn, watching her eyes widen as she saw what was in his hands.

"Mar's Armour?" she gasped.

Jak nodded. "If...if you're being banished to the Wasteland, you're going to need it. It's saved my life more times than I can count. I should have given it to you when you turned eighteen, but..." He trailed off.

"Precursors..." the young woman whispered as she took the armour from her father. "May I?" she asked. He nodded.

"It's yours. Try it on."

Jakuelynn needed no second telling. She started with the gauntlets, strapping them around her forearms, shifting then until they were comfortable against the protective gloves on her arms. She then moved on to the leggings, shoulder pads and finally, the chest plate. A shiver went up her spine as she was surprised to find how well it fitted her body, especially as it was made for the opposite gender. However, she reasoned, since she was fifteen years old and she began training for something she'd never had to do, her body had always been more masculine than feminine.

"It fits you uncannily well," Jak said aloud, half to himself.

"It does. Feels comfortable as well," Jakuelynn agreed. The armour seemed to cling to her body as if it had been waiting for her to wear it for long years. _Maybe it had_, she thought to herself. _It was made by the Precursors after all. Who knows what qualities it could have?_ She looked at the time, her heart sinking as she remembered what was ahead.

"Go and get some sleep, Nelly. You're going to need it," Jak ordered her, though not in a hard tone of voice. She unstrapped the armour from her body, put it back in a pile and took it with her to her room, spending the next six hours attempting to calm her mind and not think about what was ahead.

~x~

The terrible feeling of letting someone close to him be punished for something she didn't do haunted Rhogan Praxis that night, preventing him from sleeping. Lisa was fast asleep next to him, not bothered by the same conscience that weighed on his head like an axe blade kissing his neck. He got out of bed, pulling his dressing gown on and walked to the large windows that dominated the outer wall of the bedroom, overlooking Sandover City and the Wasteland. Both were beautiful when bathed in the moonlight, which tonight was strong. He opened a window to let the night air in. It was mid-Spring, but Lisa had cranked up the central heating to its highest level, making the whole room stuffier for it.

He wondered how Jakuelynn was doing; whether she'd chosen to run from Sandover or she was attempting to sleep, gaining as much strength as possible for the trials she would face. Sometimes Rhogan forgot that she was five years younger than him. She had seen far more in the last seven years than he ever did in his thirty, but that was the path she had chosen. The path of her father, grandfather and ancestors before her.

It was a good thing he hadn't chosen the paths of his father, aunt and grandfather, otherwise he would either be dead or in prison.

"I'm sorry, Jakuelynn," he whispered, letting the desert whisper carry it to her. Hopefully she'd hear it. Even more, he hoped she would believe it. Two generations of his family betraying or hurting her family had caused a _de facto_ tension between himself and Jakuelynn, even though they were fairly close.

He hoped he could somehow heal that rift, should she survive this ordeal.

~x~

_**11:00 hours, somewhere in the Wasteland**_

"Jakuelynn Hagai, Crown Princess of the Line of Mar and Head of Defence for Sandover City!" Yuhmer Krazak's voice rang out over the gathered assembly. "You have been found guilty of failure to act upon the duties you were given and concealing information about your..._health_ that proves a risk to the city. This was evident in the Metal Head attack on the city barely forty-eight hours ago. You are hereby banished to the Wasteland for _life_. You must never contact your family or close friends." Yuhmer smirked. "Not that you'll survive long outside these walls anyway,"

Jakuelynn narrowed her eyes at him, struggling in her restraints. Jak felt Daxter's hackles raise, even from on his shoulder.

"Lemme at 'im, Jak, lemme at 'im," he hissed.

"Dax, no," Jak whispered.

"Buddy, that's your kid being banished! You're just gonna stand there and not do anything about it?"

"I would if I could. I...I can't," Jak replied, his heart sinking.

"What d'ya mean, you can't? No, wait, don't answer that one. So you're just gonna stand there and let her go?"

"No, Daxter." Jak looked at him sorrowfully. "I'm never letting her go!"

"If you say so, tough guy. If you say so," Daxter drawled, crossing his hairy arms.

"Do you have anything to say before your banishment begins? Apart from goodbye, that is," Yuhmer smirked again. Precursors, how everyone hated that smirk.

Jakuelynn straightened up and looked him in the eye. "You know, Yuhmer, you always were a total cunt, weren't you? Not as bad as Roah. But you're pretty close." Her head jerked to one side as Yuhmer viciously slapped her in the face, leaving a burning sting there. She brought her head back to stare into his eyes and he backed off, seeing the darkness within.

"You only did that because you know it's true," she hissed, a growl underscoring her words.

"Release the cargo!" he ordered. Jak ran to his daughter full of words to say, but when he got there, they refused to emerge. Rufas slept peacefully in his arms. When Jakuelynn's hands were free, she took the Amulet around her neck and gently put it around her son's, double-looping it to shorten the thread. She kissed him once on the forehead, her eyes filling with tears.

"I'll be back, Rufas Day Mar Ghosten," she whispered. "I'll hold you again. Even if it takes me copious long years." She straightened up and looked at her father, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it as he always did with her. "And you, Dax, you take care of my father, yes?" she said, poking him in the belly.

"Hey, Viking Queen! Don't touch the goods! I'm delicate, y'know. And surely it's Jak who's gotta take care of _me_. Right, Jak? I _said_...right, Jak?" Daxter sounded his usual confident self, but his ears were flat behind his head.

Jak shrugged, giving a brief smile. "Nel, I'm sorry I can't do any more for you..."

"Father, you've done enough," Jakuelynn replied. "Just...look after Rufas for me. Until I come home."

Her father smiled again. "That's my girl," he whispered.

"Now go. And...don't look back," she ordered, locking eyes with him.

He saluted her. "Yes, ma'am," he said softly as he turned back to the vehicle, following the rest of the assembly. Daxter looked back, his large eyes expressing sadness for the first time Jakuelynn had seen.

"You too, Dax. No looking back!" she called. She watched as the vehicle shut its large door behind the two and flew off into the distance, back to Sandover City. She sighed and turned away, taking a step forward and the beginning of a long and – she guessed – fruitless trek across the barren expanse, the tears escaping from her eyes and dissolving the second the sun's cruel rays hit them.


	19. 18: Hold Her When I'm Not Around

**A/N: Hai everyone, thanks for reviews! I am not hungover. My kidneys, however, are tender. And Saldam is pronounced as Sol-dam. I have no idea why. I just tried the name out in my head and it came out as that. Read, review, (compulsory) recommend (optional) or no 19****th**** chapter. Please! :D Love you all. ~ Mika**

Jakuelynn felt like she was made out of wax and her body was sluicing off her in sweat. She lifted her eyes to the sky, her brain sluggishly trying to work out the time. The sun was fairly low in the sky, but that hadn't lessened the temperature even slightly.

"It must be...eighteen hours at least," she panted, brain too melted to think. She saw a dark oval ahead – _oh, thank the Precursors, shelter_ – but her legs refused to obey the order to break into a sprint. In fact, they seemed to do the opposite and slow down altogether. She stopped, blinking as her feet melted into the sand. She tried to move them, but this only resulted in sending her flying, viciously, to the ground. She rolled on her back, freeing her feet, stopping them from melting, and just before she passed out, a dark silhouette entered her blurred vision.

Her dry, cracked lips uttered one word.

"Deimin?"

~x~

"Wait here, children," Saldam instructed as he pulled his cloak about him to protect him from the desert wind. His instinct was less tapping than hammering him on the shoulder, telling him something that was important, but not actually saying what was important.

"Papà, where are you going?" Kieron asked. "Can I come with you? Is it her? Is she here?"

"Yes, Kieron, she is here." Saldam tousled his son's hair. "Stay here. I'll get her." He ran outside, seeing a figure sprawled on the floor. He reached her just as she passed out, uttering the name of the man she'd lost months ago before her green eyes closed. _Her mother's green eyes_, Saldam saw with a shock, _set in a face that's too reminiscent of her father_. He bent down and slung her arms around his neck, picking her up as if she was Jayelle's size and age.

She began to make whimpering noises, protesting.

"You're safe. Nobody's going to hurt you," Saldam promised. The young woman moaned a little before passing out again, her head hitting the Sage's collarbone with a jarring thud. He gritted his teeth as pain shot through it, continuing on until he reached the cave. Once inside the safe hollow, he laid the young woman gently down on the side, Kieron and Jayelle instantly at her side, bent over her, caught between fear and curiosity, making little comments about her.

"She's _really_ big!"

Kieron poked her. "Is she alive?"

"Is she even a lady?"

"Of course she is, Ellie,"

"Kee, Kee, is she dead?"

"Children, children!" Saldam shushed his youngest two. "This is the woman we've been waiting for. Yes, Jayelle, she is a lady and yes, Kieron, she's alive,"

"When will she wake up, Daddy?" Kieron asked him.

"Soon, I hope," Saldam sighed. "Seem, do we have any water left?"

"Eraux has gone to find some. I fear it will be an impossible mission," Seem rasped, her back to the group.

"He's managed to find some before. It seems to be a gift he has,"

"Many have gifts, lost one. It does not mean they use them to their full potential, or indeed, use them at all." There was a tightness in Seem's voice which caused Saldam to halt the thread of conversation.

"Papà, Papà, she's waking up!" Jayelle whispered, tugging at her father's cloak. Sure enough, the young woman was groaning and attempting to sit up, her arms wobbling beneath her. The young Sage dived down to her side, helping her sit up. She shook her hands to rid them of the sand and rubbed her eyes, blinking as she looked around.

"Where am I?" she croaked. "Who are you?"

"My name is Saldam Ar'Aigham and these are my children. Jayelle – " The little girl in front of the warrioress waved. She had green hair and large golden-brown eyes as well as a big smile on her face. "Kieron – " The boy next to Jayelle, perhaps a little older, had his father's eyes and indigo-coloured hair. "And my eldest, Oreyn. Oreyn, come here." An older boy with darker brown eyes than his sister and blue hair cautiously entered into Jakuelynn's field of vision. He had a sullen expression on his face, and although he couldn't have been more than ten years old, the young woman suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle when he approached.

"M-my name's Jakuelynn," she managed, a small smile on her face.

Saldam spoke gently. "We knew who you are, Princess. The first Mar female to be born into the lineage in six generations, the daughter of an Eco Sage and a Channeller Warrior, the outlawed City Protector of Sandover and the mother of Rufas Day Mar Ghosten. Am I correct?"

Jakuelynn shot to her feet, heatstroke forgotten as the last one struck a nerve so hard it almost severed it. "Who are you and how do you know so much about me?" she almost shouted, crouching against the wall defensively. "And since when was Keira an Eco Sage?"

Saldam put his hands up "Rest assured, Princess, I mean neither you nor your family any harm. I swear on the heads of my children. I am an Eco Sage, perhaps the last of my kind. Your...your mother was an Eco Sage before she was killed, along with your brother. Like your father, she had a startling ability to channel Eco, which is perhaps why you can channel Eco."

Jakuelynn's mouth became desert-dry. Her head was reeling from what this stranger had told her. "Y-you're an Eco Sage? I thought they were all killed – "

"When Roah Praxis ruled Haven?" Saldam finished. "Yes. She...she found me, but she did not get to me or the children. My wife, however, was not so lucky. She was poisoned after giving birth to Jayelle here." His blue eyes saddened.

"It...That wasn't a great time for anyone," Jakuelynn said quietly.

"I understand Roah raised you, is that right?"

He asked this gently, but Jakuelynn's eyes flicked up to him angrily. "I'd rather not talk about that, Saldam," she said shortly. "She didn't raise me. She attempted to condition me into her mindset. That's all."

Saldam nodded. This confirmed what he already knew.

"She has twisted your soul, Princess. That you cannot leave unspoken," Seem suddenly piped up from the back of the cave.

"You must be Seem!" Jakuelynn exclaimed before she could stop herself. "My father's told me a lot about you. And please, stop calling me Princess. My name is Jakuelynn."

"I am certain he has, Jakuelynn." Seem replied, a little perturbed by the mention of Jak.

"Do we have a new face in the group?" a rough, cheery male voice suddenly sounded in the cave. Jakuelynn whipped her head around and froze when she saw the owner, her heart and gut constricting as she recognised him. She knew those features – she had seen them frequently over many years on a completely different person. New grief welled up, travelling to her eyes.

"Y-you're Eraux Ghosten. Am I right?" she choked out.

The older man looked startled. "You are, although I haven't used that name in a long time. How did you know?"

"You look like h-him," the warrioress replied, tears slipping unbidden from her eyes. "Your son. I knew him for a long time."

The man looked startled. He put the large half-filled buckets of water down on the sand carefully, his face running the gauntlet of emotions.

"I have a son?" he finally said, the words sounding like bullets to even Jakuelynn's ears. She closed her eyes, tears escaping from them.

"Had," she said, correcting him unbiddingly. "H-he died in combat nine months ago. Out here. In the Wasteland."


	20. 19: To Buy The Truth And Sell A Lie

**A/N: Thanks JKA and marneus for the reviews as always! Everyone else...where are you? Just seem to have disappeared. Oh well. Read, review, enjoy; any errors/ criticism, please let me know. :) ~ Mika**

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months until a full Season had gone by since Jakuelynn took her last steps out of Sandover City. One night at the end of Spring, as he'd done every night since the banishment, Jak held Rufas about in his arms, trying to settle the little one. It was two hours into the next day and his grandson had been crying non-stop for eight hours. He normally settled well when Jakuelynn was here.

_Jakuelynn._

The atmosphere in the house had been very different in the last Season. Even Daxter hadn't been his usual loudmouth self – he'd been quiet and uneasy, a state that not only was Jak unaccustomed to, but a state which even Tess couldn't coax him out of. When everyone had arrived back at the house at the thirteenth hour on that day in Winter, Jak had shut his daughter's ajar door and not gone into her room since.

_Wait...Jakuelynn._

He knew exactly what to do to settle Rufas; he mentally hit himself round the head for not thinking about this earlier. He gently laid the baby down in his crib and ran into Jakuelynn's room, opening her wardrobe and finding a top of hers. He held it with his chin as he ran back into the room next door and spread the top out over his chest, gently picking up a still-crying Rufas, holding him close and praying to the Precursors that it would work. When the baby's cries decreased to snuffles and then finally, steady breathing as he curled up like a hedgehog against his mother's shirt, Jak tilted his head back and thanked them. Even though he hadn't fully believed in the Precursors since finding out their true form, it seemed to be a default thing to thank them. He laid Rufas back down in his crib, still clutching Jakuelynn's shirt but finally – _finally_ – sleeping. Jak left the room, clicking the door shut, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Littlest finally asleep?" Sig whispered as Jak descended the stairs.

"Yess," Jak hissed in relief. "It's taken eight hours and something of Jakuelynn's to settle him down." He locked eyes – or eye – with his friend. "Anything in the Wasteland...?" The words died at the back of his mouth as Sig shook his head.

"Sorry, Chilli Pepper. I didn't see anythin'. Heat signals are useless out there or I'd tried one already,"

Jak's shoulders dropped. He didn't know what he'd expected to hear, but it clearly wasn't that, in spite of the fact that it was the same thing every night.

"Jak, I promise, if I find her I'll bring her to Spargus. Take care of her there til she's strong enough to come back to Sandover and you guys. I can't promise any more than that,"

"Thanks, Sig," Jak said quietly, no trace of sarcasm in his voice. "If you can just find her, I'll be eternally grateful."

"Because you weren't eternally grateful from that time when – "

"Alright, Sig. I know, I know." Jak opened his hands, putting them up in defeat.

~x~

As the Season passed from the day of Jakuelynn's banishment, Seem, Saldam, Jayelle, Kieron and Oreyn watched Jakuelynn and Eraux as every night, the young woman told the older man everything she knew about the son he'd never known bit by bit. Saldam noticed that recounting Deimin was tough for her even as time passed; she often had difficulty getting the words out, and emotion sometimes overruled them, bringing them to a halt altogether. Once she'd finished, her breathing was heavy, as if she'd been running great distances. On one particular night after she'd spent two hours recounting a particular tale involving Deimin, she looked at Eraux, who was silent, his mouth open, mind reeling from the information he'd received.

"Nuala never told me she was pregnant," he whispered.

"She didn't find out until after she was told that you'd gone missing," Jakuelynn replied. "Where did you go?"

"It wasn't my fault," Eraux said, anger crossing his face as he remembered. The young warrioress was strongly reminded of Deimin for a second, which made her heart twist. "I was on a routine mission from Sig, tackling a group of Metal Heads whom were after some Precursor artifacts. A sand storm hit just as I got to the last one. I found some shelter, but the storm claimed my vehicle. Not long after that, Marauders found me, holding me captive for twenty years. I escaped, but there was no way to get back. Then Seem, Saldam and his family found me and I've been with them since." Eraux look at Jakuelynn with violet eyes. "Tell me more about my son. What did he look like?"

"You," she choked out. "He looked like you – certainly had your features, and your hair colour – but he had black eyes. He was thin and lanky and h-he was teased at school. He didn't trust people initially, but...he had a good heart." Jakuelynn closed her eyes. "If he liked you...he'd defend you to the end."

"That...that's good, then," Eraux said, looking away and biting his lip. The sun had set completely and a warm wind was stirring the sand up, swirling it around the cave. Sometimes it caught the moonlight, turning it from black to silver as if the individual particles were messengers of the moon.

Jakuelynn shook her head, snapping herself back to the present. "And you, Saldam? You seem to know a lot about me, but I don't know anything about you. What's your story?" The damaged woman couldn't stop the brittleness returning to her voice as she aimed her questions at the Sage.

"My story is long, and will take time,"

"I've got all day, Eco Sage," Jakuelynn said hostilely, but as soon as the words left her mouth, a muffled explosion and its tremors rocked the ground she was sitting on. Instinctively, she grabbed her Morph Gun, thanking the Precursors she was allowed to keep it. "What was that?"

"It felt like an attack!" Eraux gasped, snatching his own weapon up.

Jakuelynn was on her feet and out the cave before breath could be drawn. The Wasteland suddenly darkened, and in the distance she saw a smoggy purple-black cloud passing over the moon.

"The Temple Ruins!" she gasped as she drew breath, feeling cold sweat creep down her neck.

"Are those Metal Heads back for the Eco crates?"

Jakuelynn snapped her head around. "How do you know – "

"I've been trying to fight them off too, myself and Saldam." He turned to the young Sage. "Stay here with the family. Jakuelynn, you coming?"

"Of course I am!" she said.

"Truly your father's daughter," Saldam said calmly. Jakuelynn threw him a 'haven't heard THAT before' look before shooting off across the desert with Eraux just as a large vehicle pulled up and its owner shouted:

"Hey, Firecracker! Wait for me!"


	21. 20: I Just Wanted To Hold You In My Arms

**A/N: Hello everybody, thankyou for the reviews, for the last chapter and "Like Every Night", which I spontaneously wrote last night *plug, plug*! Also thanks to JKA for "Midnight Solace", which she dedicated to myself and darkecomuse. *PLUG! PLUG!* :P Anyway, usual disclaimers/ stuff applies. Go and read "Midnight Solace", it will make you like humanity. ~ Mika**

_**Twenty minutes before**_

"What the _hell_ was that?" Jak hissed as an explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet. He sprinted up to the roof, which looked out over Sandover City as well as the Wasteland. He squinted, pressing his eye against the telescope on top, seeing smoke rise from the Temple Ruins many miles away. It cut across the moon like a knife, thick black trails of it. Suddenly and inexplicably, he knew that the Metal Heads were trying to get at the Dark Eco crates again.

They would never give up, not until they were all destroyed or they got the crates.

He hurled himself back down the house faster than one would expect for a man of his age and skidded to a halt in front of Sig.

"See anything?"

"Metal Heads are attacking the ruins again. Trying to get to the Eco crates," Jak gasped, more out of breath than he'd guessed.

"Again?" The older man's voice rose in surprise. He turned on his heel and was about to run out the door when Jak called him back.

"Sig, if you find Jakuelynn..."

He nodded. "Alright, Chilli." He turned back and crashed out the door, waking Rufas up again. Jak rolled his eyes and trod upstairs to settle the little one.

~x~

When night had fallen, Saldam had decided to light a fire using some desert weeds and his own Channelling abilities. Although the Wasteland was just as warm at night as it was during the day, the instinct to light a fire could not be fought, even in climates that didn't require a fire. It was a stroke of luck that he _did_ light a fire that night, as it was the only way that Sig was able to investigate what was in the cave...and ultimately find Jakuelynn.

The older man screeched to a halt, cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed to the departing warrioress. "Hey, FIRECRACKER! _JAKUELYNN_!"

"Sig?" Jakuelynn yelled, recognising the voice instantly and skidding to a halt on her heels.

"Your father wanted me to find you!" the veteran fighter shouted back, hopping out of his vehicle and catching up with the young woman.

"How is he?" Jakuelynn lowered the volume of her voice once Sig caught up with her.

"Sig?" Eraux exclaimed, stopping and turning around.

"_Eraux?_ You were dead! Long missing!" Sig blinked a few times to make sure sand hadn't gotten into his working eye, altering his vision. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," Eraux replied, a tinge of sadness in his voice. "Did you know I had a son?"

"I didn't, no," Sig said, but Jakuelynn shook her head.

"You have met Eraux's son. Deimin. Deimin Ghosten. Killed nine months ago?"

Sig stumbled back as he made the connection. "Holy Precursors! I never knew..."

"Neither did I until Jakuelynn here filled me in," Eraux replied, more sadness filling his voice. Another explosion sounded in the distance.

"We need to get to the ruins _now!_" Jakuelynn hissed, successfully breaking the legs of any sentimentality that may have wandered into the group. "Who _knows_ what those Metal Heads want with the Eco crates!"

~x~

The young woman felt cold sweat break out over her whole body as Sig's vehicle crunched to a halt outside the Temple ruins, puffing sand into the air. It had been close to ten months since she was last at the Temple with the same situation, but it had resulted in the death of the man she loved. She gripped her gun tightly, locking her jaw, not letting her emotions get any further than her throat.

"Something the matter, Jakuelynn?" Eraux asked, his violet eyes searching her face in the way his son's own black eyes used to.

"Deimin died here," she said, her voice as tight as her grip. Eraux looked away, facing forward, the grip on his own weapon turning his knuckles white, which Jakuelynn was surprised by. He was by far a more seasoned fighter than she was; she did not expect fear to show itself from him. _Maybe it's a reaction to what I just told him_, she reasoned. The ground trembled more violently the closer the little group got to the main hub of Metal Heads and – Jakuelynn could only assume – the strange humanoid creatures. Deimin's face flashed into her mind again and her stomach lurched, her already short, uneven breathing becoming shorter.

"You sure you're good, Firecracker?" This came from Sig.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Let's just take them down and get out of here." _This place gives me the creeps_, she silently added, then shook her head.

"Sounds like you're your father's daughter alright," Eraux commented. Jakuelynn felt a shot of irritation in her gut. It was _de facto_ that people would comment on her being Jak's daughter – she'd had it for seven years – but it did not get less annoying every time.

Which could also explain what she said next.

"Yes, but I'm still my own person. I'm not just Jak's daughter, Keira's daughter, the Sandover City Protector, Deimin's lover, the Channeller, the warrior woman, the _freak_, the Princess, the person who has walked away and left copious people to die." Her voice grew steadily venomous as she reached the end. "I laugh, cry, smile and feel like everyone else. I have a soft side which I'm not allowed to show. I'm also a mother as well as a fighter." She smiled as Rufas flashed up in her mind, her tone softening. "All I want is to get this Metal Head crap dealt with and go home to my son."

"You're banished, right? That means you can't get home," Eraux reminded her.

She simply smirked. "Who says?"

~x~

Another dramatic, booming round of hammering on the door.

"Enter! What is it?" It boomed.

The man entered and bowed. "Forgive me for disturbing you. I have good news and bad news."

"Continue!" It said shortly.

"Which would you like to hear first?"

"Bad news first."

The man took a deep breath. "We have still been unable to reach the Dark Eco crates. I fear we may never be able to reach them and carry out your plans."

It growled mechanically. "And...the...good...news?" It squeezed out.

"The good news is that the girl can no longer protect Sandover City because she has been banished for, ahem, failing to perform her duties, amongst other things. This leaves Sandover vulnerable, and it also means that every city on this planet is open and free for when we _do_ get hold of the Dark Eco crates."

It sat forward, regarding Its second-in-command with round red eyes. "How do you know this? Surely it would be classified information?"

The man removed his hood, smiling. "I know this, because I banished her myself."

It chuckled, applauding. "Oh Yuhmer...I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Yuhmer bowed. "Anything for you."


	22. 21: I've Challenged My Limits

**A/N: Hello everybody, thankyou for the reviews! Not much to say here, apart from usual disclaimers apply. Have also just started drafting Chapter 29, with at least another 3-4 to go. :) ~ Mika**

Rhogan spotted Yuhmer from the other side of the long, high corridor of Sandover City Hall. He was easier to spot by his bright blonde hair than Rhogan was with his own bush of red hair. The older man strode up to the younger, who had a smirk on his handsome but smug face and his arms crossed.

"I've been expecting you, Praxis," the younger man sneered.

"I'm glad you have, Krazak," the older man sneered back mockingly, his lip curling. "What are you up to, banishing Jakuelynn like that six weeks ago? Failure of duty? Oh, I'm sorry..._failure to disclose aspects of health which could endanger the city_. Which toilet did you find that shitty excuse in?"

"You're not the Deputy Chairman here, Rhogan Praxis...I am. And I say that by turning into the monster she did turn into that day, she has failed in her duty to defend the city, as well as to inform the top brass about her..._condition_." Yuhmer stretched out the last word and then sighed, turning his back on the older man and pacing around in a circle. "You yourself knew about her little...secret. Am I correct, Rhogan?"

The redhead felt his throat dry. _How the fuck did Yuhmer Krazak know that?_

He smiled. "I know a lot more than you could ever know, Rhogan Praxis." His smile grew more acidic. "Such as the way Lisa Traditore moans when I fuck her..."

The older man froze. He could do nothing but stare at the blonde for several minutes. Time slowed down completely, the second hand on the clock making loud booming noises. If what Yuhmer said was true, which it rarely was – giving him more of a reason to doubt him – then it would explain why Lisa was away so often and for so long too. Why she came back freshly showered and with the type of glow Rhogan recognised as caused by sex rather than a hot shower. Why she never looked him in the eye any more when they were in bed together.

Why she was so distant with him.

"You..._what?_" he whispered hoarsely.

"I'm sorry, Rhogan, did you not hear me?" Yuhmer turned around and stepped so close to Rhogan, the older man could smell the last meal the younger had had on his breath. He emphasised each word as if they were daggers he was slowly pushing into the City Leader. "Lisa moans...when I...fuck her. _Hard._ No, she doesn't moan. She _screams_. She screams so loud I'm surprised the Metal Heads over at the Ruins don't hear her. And trust me, Rho, it's not your name she screams either – "

Rhogan's fist had connected with Yuhmer's stomach before he even realised it. A mist the same colour as his hair descended across his vision as his fist connected with parts of Yuhmer he wouldn't ordinarily touch. Not that he would touch a single inch of Yuhmer.

"You bastard! You don't know when to fucking stop, do you?" There was a crack as his knuckles successfully broke a rib. "First Jakuelynn, now me! What the fuck is wrong with you?" He screamed angrily and shoved Yuhmer away.

"Got a bit of a soft spot for the lamp-post, have we?" Yuhmer sneered thickly, blood dripping from his mouth and nose, his arms wrapped around his middle. "Have you been waiting since Goth boy flopped over in the sand? Huh?"

Rhogan knew better than to reply to that. Even though he apparently looked more like Ashelin, he'd inherited Torn's short fuse, amongst other things.

"Well?"

"Yuhmer Vigerevich Krazak, from this moment on and with the powers I have as Sandover City Leader, I hereby dissolve the Council and strip you of your titles and all the privileges you acclaim with those titles." Rhogan's eyes were almost as red as his hair, his breathing heavy, his fists clenched. "Now. I order you to get the _fuck_ out of this building!" he growled, his voice harsh. "Right now. You have until the count of five before I find the Peacemaker and sink 600,000 volts in a place that ensures you _never_ have children. One..."

Yuhmer's dust was more visible than the man himself before the last word slipped out of the Leader's lips.

~x~

Eraux was the first to utter a battlecry as he charged headfirst into the crowd of Metal Heads and humanoid creatures, blasting as he went. Jakuelynn forced thoughts of Deimin out of her head and charged after him, her Vulcan shuddering and jolting in her hands as she squeezed the trigger as if her life depended on it, blue shells and smoke clouding her vision, which was already red with combined revenge and bloodlust upon sight of the combined factions. She didn't remember the crux of the action – she barely remembered running out of ammo and switching mods – but by the time the red mist cleared, there was only one humanoid left. He put his hands up, but she dropped her gun like a volcanic rock and sprinted towards the humanoid, grabbing it and wrenching its arms behind its back. It struggled, but she gripped them tighter, feeling the bones in its arms creak under her strong grip.

"Oh no you don't!" she growled. "You have information which I want from you."

The thing whimpered, but could do nothing as the vengeful warrioress dragged it away, its feet smoking from the friction against the already-burning sand. Eraux and Sig, though having considerable more years than her, could not stop her in her single-minded determinedness as she dragged it to a nearby cave and fastened it to the wall with the makeshift restraints she'd spent the previous night making.

"Firecracker, you sure this is a good idea?" Sig asked tentatively. Jakuelynn had a habit of causing even the most hardened, headstrong warriors to question her tentatively; Sig had seen this many times.

"It's the best idea I've come up with since being banished to this Precursor-forsaken place!" she snarled, her eyes completely black. "You, shut the fuck up!" she yelled at the humanoid, whose feet were bleeding, raw and sizzling in the heat. She took a pair of makeshift tongs from a pack behind her back and put them partway in the sun on a rock. Whilst Eraux and Sig retreated to the back of the cave, she waited, watching the humanoid as it struggled against its bonds.

_Jakuelynn, don't do this,_ Eraux silently pleaded. He wondered if she had resorted to torture before; she certainly seemed to know what she was doing. Maybe she had been tortured herself. All the same, from what he had heard and the three-quarters of a Season he'd spent with her, he did not understand her to be the torturer type.

_Has losing Deimin pushed you to become the person you never wanted to be? Please, Jakuelynn, don't turn into her._

_Don't turn into Roah Praxis._


	23. 22: Trapped In The Eyes Of A Stranger

**A/N: Thanks for reviews, JKA and Marneus as always. Rest of you, WHERE ARE YOU? No more reviews apart from the aforementioned = no Chapter 23. Blimey, chapter 23. The M rating is also exacerbated here *TORTURE WARNING*. **

**I own all but Sig and the Wasteland.**

**~ Mika**

Jakuelynn waited until he – definitely identifiable as a he now she'd seen it up close and pulled off its black mask – was awake before she picked up the pair of tongs with thick gloves. Most of the metal that made up the tongs gleamed dully in the dim light; however, it was the operative part of the tongs themselves that glowed an orange-red only seen in sunsets.

She saw his eyes, wide with fear as he registered the tongs.

"Congratulations! You've been spared," Jakuelynn snarled, clipping the tongs together. They hissed as the hot ends met. "I want answers from you." She stepped close to the chained humanoid, tilting the perilously hot ends of the tongs towards his sweat-covered stomach. He yelped and bucked his body, tightening his binds. Jakuelynn's rage only increased.

"If you're gonna protest, I'll just get to work right now," she snarled. "First of all, did you kill Deimin?"

The humanoid male – in no sense could it actually be called human – hissed and snarled. Jakuelynn grabbed one of his bound hands as gently as a contact sports player in the heat of the game and clamped his index finger in the freezing hot tongs. It let out an unearthly, spine-freezing scream as its skin and fingernail melted quickly in the intense heat of the tong ends.

"Full English, please, or you lose the next finger. Did. You. Kill. Deimin? You know. Lanky man, dressed in black, extremely pale skin?"

"NO!" it shouted. "I...I know who you're talking about but I swear, I didn't do it!"

"You didn't?" she said coolly, prising the tongs from its voyage of conjoining with the humanoid's finger, the skin and nail ripping as she tore them away. "Who did then?"

The male returned to its silence, biting both its lips, panicked and pained breaths marrying in its nose. Narrowing her eyes, Jakuelynn put the tongs down to reheat, leaned back on her heels, folded her arms and tilted her head, giving a hard stare towards the figure.

"You...are _not_ getting any answers from me, you blue-blooded bitch!" he hissed. Jakuelynn rolled her eyes, snatching up the tongs again, wrenched his right nipple and clamped the hot ends down vengefully. He screamed and howled, writhing about .

"Precursors, I wish everyone would stop going on about my fucking heritage. I know who I am, I don't need to be reminded," she snarled abrasively, her teeth close to the tip of his nose. "Now, I'm going to ask you again, and you are going to answer me or you will never be able to spawn little brats ever again. Who. Killed. Deimin?" She squeezed harder and it yowled. "In English, please, I can't speak Yowl."

He narrowed his cat-like eyes and locked them with her own Eco-greens. "I...don't know his name, but he is The Master's second-in-command."

Anger flashed the young woman's eyes. "What did he look like? And who is The Master? Tell me!"

"I will not," the humanoid hissed. Jakuelynn rolled her eyes and tore the tongs off the male's nipple, moving on to the other one, the skin hissing in protest as the intense heat melted new surface. He yelled again. "Melt me all you want, Princess, I will not tell you!"

Jakuelynn released the tongs, noticing with satisfaction how they stayed attached to the humanoid's skin like a large, heat-sealed piercing. She slung her Morph Gun out from behind her, switching to the Blaster and pointing it at where she presumed his balls were. They were covered with a loincloth that was only two shades darker than the rest of his skin.

"Then I'll definitely make sure you never have children!" she snarled, stepping back so she wouldn't feel the impact of the gun. She ensured the laser was on the slightly visible bulge and squinted to get a better aim. "H'mm, well...there's not too much down there. You shouldn't feel anything."

"How dare you!" the male hissed. Jakuelynn allowed herself to smirk. _The best way to hurt a guy. Insult the size of his dick._

"Do you want even less down there?" she said icily, raising the gun to her eye, sniper-fashion. "Yes? You do? Oh dear. This makes me think you _like_ getting tortured like this. Like a bit of S&M during sex, do we? Bit of pain with the pleasure?" She rested her finger on the trigger. "This will make sure you never have _that_ again." She yanked her finger back once and heard the rock-shattering scream as it hit its mark. Slowly, she released the trigger and lowered the gun, only to see a constant gush of blood streaming from between his legs. He was now sobbing, real, saltwater tears flowing down his face and neck and over the large, red-brown wound left by Jakuelynn's tongs.

"I fucking _told_ you!" she bit at him, bullet-sharp. "I told you you'd lose down there. Now, describe your...master guy's second-in-command or you lose your hand too." She rammed the barrel of the Blaster against the centre of his palm, but he no longer needed conviction. If she was prepared to take his genitals, she was prepared to take every limb until he was a head and torso or simply a head.

"O-oh-ok-okay," he stammered, going pale. "He-he-he's f-fa-airly sh-sh-sh-short, about a f-foot shorter than you..." He took a deep breath, shaking. "Y-y-y-yellowish b-brown hair. Lot of it t-too. P-p-probably p-p-part Ru-Russian. D-d-do you know...know what I m-mean?"

Jakuelynn's anger fell and shattered on the ground like a glass sculpture. Her eyes widened and she stepped back, taking the gun away from the humanoid's hand.

"Yuhmer Krazak?" she whispered, throat Wasteland-dry, her entire body feeling like it had fallen and shattered along with her anger. "He did it?"

"It wa-wa-wasn't j-just a random mu-murder," the male continued. "Th-The Master wa-wanted D-D-D-Deimin out of the w-way. I-I-I-It p-placed a h-hit on th-th-the c-clairv-voyant b-boy. Yuh-Yuhmer was the only...one with the b-balls to d-do it."

"And _WHO_ is The Master?" Jakuelynn swung her gun around and pointed it at the chained male before he could draw breath. She was completely and utterly numb, so numb that she didn't hear the male's answer; able to believe it, but unable to think that Krazak could be so evil. The man who had made her life hell over the last ten months. The man who had banished her to this desert, separated her from her son and her family. The man who – It was no use. Jakuelynn had to say the words out loud.

"Yuhmer Krazak assassinated my boyfriend?"

The male nodded dumbly, blood still dripping from between his legs.

Jakuelynn nodded. "You want to go?"

He hung there, unresponsive. She slung her gun down, disgusted, and marched up to him, tearing away the restraints. He collapsed to the floor in a pool of blood, curling up like a fetus. She kicked him, her steel-toe-capped boots, causing the vertebrae in his spine to crunch.

"Get the fuck up. _Now_."

He did, stumbling as he scrambled to his feet, bent double. Jakuelynn prodded him with the barrel of the gun, bending down and ripping the tongs away from his remaining nipple, taking the nipple with them. He screamed again, burying his face in his hands.

"Now go! Run home! And if I see you again, I'll take your head off," she threatened, watching him stumble off until he was a sand-blurred speck in the distance. She felt another presence in the makeshift torture cave; heard him, too. She turned around and saw Sig and the look of disappointment on his face.

"What, Sig?" Jakuelynn said softly, her voice hoarse.

"You honestly feel you've got nothing left to lose?" he asked her rhetorically. His voice wasn't scolding, but it wasn't soft either. "You carry on like this, Firecracker, and you're gonna get yourself killed. You got a father who loves you and a son who needs you back in Sandover. You really wanna lose that?"

"I know who killed Day," Jakuelynn said, her voice as brittle as it was the day her lover died. "That was all I wanted to know, Sig." She slung her gun back into its holster. "Though I can't promise I won't do that again if I need to."

"I had a feeling you wouldn't," Sig said quietly, but Jakuelynn didn't hear.


	24. 23: Is It Enough? Is It Enough?

**A/N: Hai, thanks for reviews! Also thanks to Fishyicon for the lovely/ random/ funny message that made me laugh and glow inside :D Here's Chapter 23. Read, review or no Chapter 24. Also: Poor Gaudus... Also, a *WARNING* for a splash of graphic violence. ~Mika**

Yuhmer stood there, arms folded in voluminous brown robe, as Gaudus stumbled into his line of vision, bleeding heavily from between the legs, two large patches of his torso covered in sand. _Wait...his torso? What is he doing without his robe?_ A flash of irritation seared through the man as Gaudus leapt to cover the distance between himself and his superior, collapsing at Yuhmer's feet, his back red and blistered from the heat.

"Well?" Yuhmer demanded through the scarf protecting his mouth, his tone as icy as the desert was burning. "You disappeared! Did you get the crates? What happened?"

Gaudus lay there, panting and shaking from shock and sunburn. "W-we didn't...we didn't g-get them, Master." He convulsed, sand flying over and around his body. "W-w-we...I...I g-got c-captured."

"Captured?" Yuhmer roared. He kicked Gaudus' shoulder. "Captured by whom? Why are you not dead or imprisoned?"

"Th-the P-Princess Mar c-c-captured me," Gaudus whimpered as fresh pain shot through his body from his Master's kick. "Sh-she wanted to kn-kn-know wh-who killed...who killed the b-boy."

"And did you tell her?" Yuhmer asked him, slowly and evenly, but a dangerous undercurrent bubbled.

"N-no, Master," Gaudus gasped. "Sh-she used hot tongs. She...she shot my balls. B-b-but I d-didn't sq-squeal,"

"He's lying!" a mechanical voice boomed from behind Yuhmer. "I can _see _it..."

"No, Your Highest Master, I'm not lying!" Gaudus gasped, wheezing in fear. He lifted his head and trained his eyes onto Yuhmer. "P-please, Master...I-I'm not lying."

"I know that girl!" Yuhmer stated coldly, deflecting the pleas. "She would not have released you at all, whether you've..._squealed_ or not." He tilted his head towards the sky. "This child of hers must have changed her. Softened her, even." He lowered his knife-sharp gaze back to the fallen man. "If she released you, that means you did squeal. Which means _this_." In one swift move, he pulled out his personal gun, aimed it at Gaudus' head and squeezed the trigger. The humanoid's pupils contracted, blood lazily winding its way down his face and across the bridge of his nose, contrasting with the brains skidding across the desert floor behind him, colouring the golden sand with blood.

"Don't worry." Yuhmer stared as Gaudus' face hit the floor, sand rolling out as his head made contact with the sifting ground. He tucked his gun back in the folds of his robe. "I'll be sure to tell your family." He turned away, his robe billowing over the dead and bloody form of Gaudus.

~x~

"Jakuelynn?"

Jakuelynn spent most of the day moodily slamming sizeable rocks into the space where the humanoid figure was in sheer anger and frustration.

"Jakuelynn! Hey, Firecracker!"

"_What?_" she growled, hurling the last available rock into the cave wall.

"We gotta get back to Seem and Saldam. I can feel a storm comin'." This was Sig, not daring to approach the furious warrioress.

Jakuelynn looked outside, shoulders heaving from a mix of fury and exhaustion. "Storm's already here, Sig. In more than one sense." She whipped her head around and Sig's breath was caught by the woman's irises, which were almost completely black. He did not move, frozen with a fear he hadn't felt since he was very young. He thought that years of combat had frozen the ability to fear in his gut, but Jakuelynn Mar Hagai's eyes broke the ice that held that fear in. He had never doubted what she could do – he'd seen it many times – but if there was any doubt left, those eyes lasered it right out of him.

"We'd better get back, then," Jakuelynn said roughly. "Where's Eraux?"

"I'm here," the older warrior said quietly, joining Sig seemingly out of nowhere. Jakuelynn regarded him for a second, his own violet eyes focused on her. She propped herself to her feet using the Morph gun, surveying both men.

"We have to make a move. Let's get back."

~x~

Even as the storm worsened over the subsequent three hours before Jakuelynn, Sig and Eraux returned, Saldam and his children kept a constant watch for them, the sand whipping their faces angrily.

"Papà?"

"Yes, Kieron?"

The youngest boy was hesitant, his hands fiddling in his lap. "When are you going to tell Jakuelynn who you really are?"

Saldam shushed him automatically, glancing over to Seem. She was deep in a meditative trance, swaying back and forth, her eyes closed. She did not appear to be paying attention to the exchange between Kieron and his father, though Saldam knew her well enough to know that she could be an incredibly deceptive figure at the best of times. _She could well be paying attention to us_. He turned his attention back to his son, his tone hardening a notch or two.

"Kieron Ar'Aigham, I will tell her when the time is right. At the moment, she is going through turmoil that will test her spirit and her strength. This is not the appropriate time to tell her."

"Father, surely that turmoil includes revealing whom you really are to her?" Oreyn pointed out from his father's left shoulder.

Saldam closed his mouth, unable to respond for a second. "It...it could break her," he eventually replied, feebly.

"Father, you've heard the stories about her. The legendary Warrioress Mar. Both her body and spirit are meant to be really strong."

"Oreyn...I know. But the emotional turmoil she has recently encountered could possibly have weakened her spirit." Saldam sighed. "Any more, and who knows what could happen?"

His awakened children fell silent, curling up with their own protective robes. Suddenly, the distant squealing of car tyres made the entire group sit up, ears pricked up in alertness. They heard male and female voices, doors slamming, a second, elongated squeal of car tyres; they also saw two silhouettes, one taller than the other, emerging through the sand and towards the cave at a rapid pace. Jakuelynn slid skilfully into the cave, uttering a celebratory grunt of "Hoo, yeah!" whilst Eraux entered a little more...quietly behind her.

Saldam gazed at the young warrioress, his mind in turmoil.

"Papà, tell her now," Kieron whispered. "You're not gonna get another chance."

Saldam nodded. He knew what his youngest son said was the truth. He waited for several heartbeats before clearing his throat, nervous. Just as he'd hoped, Jakuelynn turned to him, her father's grin fading from her face as a troubled expression took over.

"You okay, Saldam?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"Jakuelynn," he said clearly, his voice shaking. "May I have a word with you? Alone?"

The young woman did not know what it was, but she had the stone-solid feeling that it was something serious. This was added to the feeling that she would not like what she was about to hear, but she had to hear it anyway.

"S-sure," she said, her own voice shaking. "What is it?"


	25. 24: Frost Or Flame, Skeleton Me

**A/N: Thanks for reviews. Quick update between films ("The Departed" – ****ing BRILLIANT – and "(500) Days of Summer", not yet seen). Read, review, enjoy, correct...etc. :D ~ Mika**

Sig took off back to Sandover, pushing the speedometer as high as it would go and then some. Attacking approaching Marauders with the rotating gun on his buggy as he went, he soon found himself at what he now thought of as Jak's house. He used to think of it in terms of Jakuelynn's house, but considering the young woman had not lived there for a full Season, that reference had long since faded. He checked the time. It wasn't too late in the day, and the sooner he told Jak about finding Jakuelynn alive and well, the better.

There was also Saldam to consider. Sig had seen, if not heard, the exchange between the warrioress and the Eco Sage; instinctively, he knew what that exchange had been, or will be about. As he parked the buggy, he wondered if he should tell Jak about Saldam. Considering the way Saldam had left Jak, however, Sig concluded that it would be wise that Saldam tell Jak himself, should the two meet, rather than have Jak be told through a secondary source.

"Sig," a rough voice croaked behind him, a door gently shutting. He felt the younger man's expectation of disappointment wrap its arms around his neck like a persuasive lover. _He won't be disappointed this time_, Sig thought, turning to see Jak simply standing there. "Anything...anything at all?" His voice was empty, colourless; devoid of expression, as if the negativity that came from Sig's mouth was now inevitable.

"I've found her, Jak." Sig stopped completely as the younger man's jaw dropped. "She's alive; she's safe. Sa-someone found her. She's with Seem and Eraux Ghosten."

"Eraux _Ghosten?_" Jak scratched his head. "Didn't he die or go missing almost thirty years back?" _And why does that name sound familiar?_

"Evidently, those damn Marauders or Metal Heads didn't find him 'cause he's alive. Wouldn't be if those things found him,"

Jak nodded in agreement. "So she's safe?"

"She's angry, hurt, upset...but she's alive, Chilli. You got nothin' to worry about." Sig watched the younger man as he calmed himself, the Dark Eco retreating from the fore of his body. Anger was replaced by hurt, and his body clearly and vividly spoke of his anguish more than his mouth ever could. _I miss her._

"Sh-she was allowed to keep her Morph Gun for all this time, right?" Jak asked quietly, brokenly.

"Uh huh. She _is_ gonna need some backup out there, though," Sig added, hoping the younger veteran would pick up on the hint bubbling under. The subsequent glint in his eyes confirmed that he did.

"Backup, you say?" he asked, a grin playing about his lips. "That sounds like an invitation,"

"An invitation? To a party?" Daxter suddenly piped up. His eyes widened in the moonlight as he padded out towards the men, his footsteps at odd with his voice. "Will there be hot girls there? You know how I like the laydeez." His eyes half-closed in bliss. "Ahh, the ladies..."

"The only ladies there are gonna be Metal Heads, Dax," Jak chuckled, shattering Daxter's illusion. He shuddered, but hopped onto his well-worn spot on Jak's shoulder. "Is Rufas going to be okay?"

"Ahhh, he'll be fine. Tess'll look after him. She's good with babies," Daxter replied cockily. Just then, a loud roar of "DAAXTERRRRRR!" shook the whole house and surrounding five miles, setting off car alarms and waking Rufas up. "Uhh...I think we'd better go. Rather face a bunch o' Metal Heads than _her_ when she's angry."

Jak chuckled just as his communicator flashed. "Ah...hang on a sec. I'm being called. Yes, Rhogan?"

"Jak, do you have a minute? I have to see you."

The veteran twisted his mouth. "Is it important?"

"Extremely. We've had some new information, Jak, and I have to tell you in person. Alone. Who knows who's listening?"

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Jak promised, clicking off. He saw the look on Sig's face and raised his silver-streaked eyebrows in response. "I'll be back as soon as possible." He took off towards Sandover City HQ, his heart weighing a ton in his stomach, knowing inevitably what was going to come back the second he laid eyes on the younger man.

~x~

Saldam headed behind the cave, but Jakuelynn stopped.

"No. I'm not going too far from the cave." She stood her ground, arching an eyebrow.

"If you insist," Saldam said evenly, seeing her point. Her guard was so high it couldn't be climbed over to reach her. He had a feeling that putting her guard up high was in her nature; that it was only exacerbated by losing Deimin several months ago. He took a deep, calming breath beneath the cloth covering his mouth, the mild wind covering the sound.

"So, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Jakuelynn said, her voice steely.

"It's...it may affect you. Emotionally..." Saldam's words failed him and he could only gesture.

"Just...spit it out, Saldam," Jakuelynn said abruptly. She was tired and ached all over. More to the point, she missed her little family like mad, but Day worse, as always. Almost a year had gone since he'd died but the pain had not eased with time. In fact, it seemed to have exacerbated in the six weeks since she'd met his father.

"I don't know where to start," Saldam said quietly, almost to himself. He closed his eyes and concentrated for what felt like a long time, almost swaying on the spot. Finally, he opened his eyes and began writing something in the air between himself and Jakuelynn. He finished the last word and dropped his hand, the words he was writing – his name – shimmering in the air. Jakuelynn looked at him, confused.

"Saldam, I d-don't understand..."

"Touch the apostrophe and the "L"," Saldam instructed her gently. She did, jerking her hand back as they disappeared. The name now read:

SA DAM AR AIGHAM

_I still don't get it_, Jakuelynn thought, but then he rearranged the shimmering, light-blue words in the air without a word, his eyes vacant, staring at nothing. When he finished, the new words the letters formed made Jakuelynn's heart stop and her throat close up. She felt dizzy and suddenly heavy, her breathing wheezing. Her knees bent and she leaned against the rock to stop herself collapsing to the sand.

"No!" she wheezed. "It can't be true."

"I'm sorry. Y...You...I wasn't sure whether to tell you now or later...but..." The man's voice faltered and failed as he stared at the shimmering, electric-blue words in the air. The words revealed whom he really was; his birthright; his heritage.

DAMAS MAR HAGAI


	26. 25: Falling In And Out Of Love

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, and JKA, that was almost exactly the reaction I was looking for with that end-of-chapter revelation. YAHEY! :D Everyone else: read, review or no chapter 26. And it's starting to build too... ~ Mika**

**PS: Saldam is NOT a Precursor Monk, neither is Eraux. Just to clear that up. The only PM in the odd group is Seem.**

"You're not my brother!" the warrioress half-shouted, half-sobbed. "He died when I was six weeks old. Blasted to bits with Keira by R-Roah Praxis and her Krimzon Guard crew twenty-six years ago!" Her eyes unwittingly filled with tears and she unconsciously raised an arm across her nose as if to wipe it. She backed off from the Eco Sage, tears flooding her cheeks, her back connecting with the rock.

"Jakuelynn, please..." Saldam/ Damas pleaded, reaching out to her. Jakuelynn closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him as Eraux's words flashed into her mind.

_Your father and Saldam go way back..._

It certainly explained how he knew so much about her; even up to the knowledge of her infant son. She unconsciously reached for Mar's Amulet, remembering just as her fingers closed around empty air that it was now around Rufas' little neck. Her heart ached to hold him again. He would be a full Season old in a few hours time. _How has that happened?_, her numb brain wondered.

"What?" she said flatly, her voice quavering with emotion. She banished the last remaining tears from her eyes and looked at Saldam/ Damas – _properly_ looked at him, for the first time since they'd met. The more she looked at him, the more she saw that his claims were true. She saw Jak's eyes and stance, Keira's colouring and thin build. The inflections in his voice were even Jak's. She had ocular proof; this was Damas Mar Hagai, her older brother, the one she'd never known until now.

"Do you see?" Damas asked gently.

"H-h-how did you survive the..." Jakuelynn faltered, bile rising in her throat.

Damas bowed his head slightly. "I cannot fully tell you; mostly because it was a complex process involving items that can no longer be found. But I was...rescued and raised by a loving family who did not bother to lie about my true identity. Unlike Roah Praxis, I understand,"

Jakuelynn's gut clenched the moment her brother spoke _her_ name. "I found out through newspaper articles," she said through gritted teeth. "Then I was tortured for finding out whom I really was..." She snapped her head up, locking eyes with her brother. "How did you know so much about me?"

"With all due respect, it wasn't hard to find out about you," he said, chuckling lightly. "You have quite a reputation, or so it seems."

"That does _not_ surprise me," Jakuelynn said, folding her arms. "Do your children know?"

"Oh yes," Damas affirmed. "They've known all along. My wife knew as well." He regarded his little sister – it was unusual for him to think of her as such – with a touch of wariness, wondering how she was going to react. Her face betrayed the fact she was in the middle of a full-throttle internal war. She had a million questions resting on her tongue, not knowing which one she wanted to ask first. She took a deep, shuddering breath and finally lined up her questions, sending them out one at a time.

"Where did you grow up?"

"The city of Allabinah, at the edge of the Wasteland. My wife, Rossanna Jayelle, was from Haven. I was a nomad, travelling a lot before meeting her. We married and settled in Haven – Oreyn was born six months later, followed by Kieron – named after our mother, did you not see the connection? – and then Jayelle. Of course, when Rossanna died, I realised how unsafe Haven was for...people like me."

"Eco Sages," Jakuelynn said softly.

Damas nodded. Jakuelynn stared at the sand as she walked round the rock back into the cave, her brother following behind. _My brother. My older brother._ Eraux and the children were asleep, Seem in a meditative trance. She looked at him tentatively, the fire flickering on his face, and she noticed that the wind had dropped completely. She could not read him, as much as she tried – another similarity Damas had with his father.

"There are...there is one thing I don't fully know about you," he suddenly said. "That I'd like to know, if you don't mind?"

"It depends what it concerns. There are some things about me no-one should ever have to know."

She was defensive again, but he wasn't hesitant in his answer. "Deimin. I know a lot about you, but the relationship between yourself and Deimin Ghosten is not...publicised as much. Do you...I mean, would you mind if I asked about him?"

Jakuelynn closed her eyes, new pain resurfacing in her heart. She swallowed. "What do you want to know?" she asked haltingly.

"Starting with how you two met would be ideal," Damas said, a whisper of a smile in his voice.

Jakuelynn felt a smile cross her face. "How we met..."

~x~

_**Twenty-two years ago**_

The solitary mother watched her son toddled into the classroom on a cool mid-Autumn morning. He stopped at the doorway, his night-sky eyes widening in amazement at the size of the room and the other children that were already there. He knew the class would be big, but not _this_ big.

"Deimin?" a kind voice said. He looked up, mouth agape to see the teacher smiling at him. "Come in. You don't have to worry, I won't bite." She chuckled and reached for his hand. Shyly, he took it and followed her further into the classroom.

That was when he saw her for the first time.

She was on her own by the sandbox, her hair as black as his own – dyed to hide whom she really was, he would later find out – her bright green eyes widening as she explored a toy truck. It was yellow and red with blue wheels which she spun, giggling as they rattled round and round. He went up to her, stopping just short of her, fingers fiddling, not knowing what to say or do. As he did, she giggled again. He fell in love with her from that moment on. In years to come, that giggle would rarely change.

"Hi!" she said boisterously, grinning at him. He stumbled back in shock; he hadn't even seen her look up.

"H-hi," he stammered. "My name's Deimin,"

"I'm Nelyn, Nelly for short." She giggled again as she span the wheels round again. "Do you like trucks?"

Deimin nodded.

"Good, cause I like trucks too. They're BIG and make lots of noise!" She flung her little arms out dramatically for effect. "I like Zoomers too. They're so cool!"

Deimin nodded ferverently in agreement. She tilted her head to one side, regarding him closely.

"You don't talk much, do you? I've heard about people who don't talk. They're...mutes. Are you a mute?"

"N-no," Deimin stammered. He picked up a toy Zoomer and pressed the button on it, which caused it to blow out hot air, making it a mini-Zoomer. He giggled as it shot off towards Nelyn, hitting her. She squealed with laughter and caught it, swinging the truck around and accidentally hitting Deimin on the head with it. His laughter grew louder and he fell to the floor, rolling around with the little girl.

"Nelyn! Deimin! Not so loud, please!" the teacher called. The four-year olds instantly stopped and sat up, their giggles now whispers.

"I like you, Deimin,"

"I like you too, Nelyn,"

"Will you be my best friend?" She said this almost shyly, her face going red.

"Yeah!" Deimin whispered, his own face flushing along with a grin.

~x~

_**Present day**_

Jakuelynn chuckled at the memory, which she was surprised she'd still managed to keep.

"That's a sweet story," Damas said.

"Twenty-one years, we knew each other," she replied, her voice softer. "He was everything to me. Everything. My soul mate, my shield, my lover..." She closed her eyes. "The strongest memory I have now is of him dying in my arms."

Damas tentatively put a hand on his sister's shoulder. She flinched and he quickly retracted it, the brittleness returning to her voice.

"Don't!" she snapped. "Just...don't."

The Sage looked away, training his eyes onto his sleeping children. After a while, the warrioress sighed.

"I'm...sorry," she said haltingly.

"I understand," Damas replied, keeping his eyes on his children. "Thank you for sharing that with me."

Jakuelynn sighed again and laid down on the sand, ensuring her Morph was always within reach. Curling up like a baby, she tied her scarf around her nose and mouth for protection, curled her arms around her middle – simulating the feel of Deimin's arms around her as they fell asleep – and spent a long time thinking before finally drifting off to sleep.


	27. 26: I Could Really Use A Wish Right Now

**A/N: Thanks for reviews/ private messages and chuckles :D the title of this chapter comes from one of the songs I listen to whenever I'm writing emotional scenes. It works in spite of being extremely overplayed (in some people's opinion – I think it's great for a rap song.) Anyway, read and review or no Chapter 27. :) ~Mika**

**PS: JKA, I apologise. I did feel dirty after writing the flashback. Hence why I wrote the J/K oneshot...**

_**Approximately thirty-one years ago**_

So many things were wrong that night. Call it a misalignment of the stars, call it a string of bad coincidences, but so many things were wrong that night that a certain blonde warrior would spend the next three decades being troubled by, amongst other things.

She was the wife of a good friend of his, so when he found her alone and crying in the Naughty Ottsel, he was both extremely surprised and very concerned. He was unsure whether he was more surprised at finding her crying _and_ without Torn or surprised to find her sitting in the Ottsel, considering how she rarely made openly public appearances. He slipped into the bar unnoticed – another thing that could have been considered wrong on that particular night.

"Ashelin," he whispered as he slipped into her booth. "You okay?"

She lifted her face from her hands and furiously wiped the tears from her eyes. "What do you want, Jak?" she said, a steely edge to her tone.

"Nothing. I was out and happened to pass the Ottsel..." Jak spread his hands disarmingly, conveying that he didn't want to pry. "Where's Torn?"

"We had a fight," she sniffed. Another thing that was wrong. The two rarely fought; that Jak had heard of, at least.

"This about the baby?" Jak asked, ordering a glass of water from the scantily-clad waitress, as was typically Daxter's mode of employment.

The governor nodded. "We just can't seem to...be successful. How did you and Keira do it? You must have had problems with the Eco in your cells."

Jak's gut twisted a little, as it did every time someone brought up his "problem". His mind flashed back to home, and the three-week old son waiting for him. "I don't know. We didn't do anything different, Ashelin. It was just pot luck,"

She nodded, looking down at the side of the table. Suddenly, her head snapped back up, icy eyes bright. "What were you doing out anyway?"

Jak's mouth twisted to the side. "Keira and I had a fight as well. She said that she didn't want to raise a family if she was constantly unsure of whether or not I was going to be around for them,"

"I see her point...So, what, did you just walk out?" The steely tone returned to her voice.

"Not for good, Ashelin!" Jak hastily assured her. "I was just taking a walk to clear my head,"

"That's not your style, soldier,"

The younger man fought the urge to salute. "Getting angry to the point of no return in front of Keira and Damas is not my style either. Especially in front of Damas. Who knows what might happen..." He trailed off sadly, gulping his water and ordering something stronger.

Ashelin sighed, twiddling with her thumbs, her wrists resting at the table as she finished her own hard drink. She gazed at the blonde man sitting opposite her, the memory of the desert kiss half a decade previously lingering in her mind as she did. Of course, it meant _nothing_ for either of them, but that didn't mean it didn't feel good. _I hope Keira knows how damn lucky she is_, the governor thought as she ordered another drink.

And so the night continued – the Ottsel was a twenty-four-hour bar, so there was no fear of being kicked out. By the time the two stumbled out the bar two hours into the next day, they had their arms around each other's respective shoulders and were _extremely_ relaxed and laughing. Ashelin dragged Jak into the nearest alley and the two began kissing passionately; drunkenly; sloppily. Her fingers fumbled for his trousers as his own digits did for hers, taking a while due to their respective inebriation. Eventually, they were both naked, the cold Winter wind tumbling over their skin. Jak was hesitant until Ashelin pulled him closer, gasping as this action pushed him inside of her.

He didn't fully remember the rest of the night, aside from the wet fire of Ashelin's body as he plunged deeper into it, and the look on Keira's face the next morning coupled with a splitting headache.

Three months later, Ashelin announced she was pregnant. Six months after that, Rhogan was born.

As said before, so many things were wrong that night.

~x~

"Jak? JAK!"

The older man snapped out of his flashback as the modern-day, grown up Rhogan snapped his fingers in his face.

"I'm still here, Rhogan," he sighed wearily, resisting the urge to break those fingers. He was sitting in the Sandover City HQ, facing the Leader. "What is it?"

"We've found out whom the new Metal Head Leader is. Okay, yes...I know...it has taken us almost eight years – "

"Who is it, Rhogan?" Jak snapped. He was tired and he wanted to get to where his daughter was as soon as possible. This tiredness was soon forgotten when Rhogan's lips revealed the name of the new Metal Head Leader. He froze all over, his mind unbiddingly flashing back. Only a short time ago – short to him, his daughter's entire lifetime – and the legacy still remained, haunting the city like a shadow.

"But...they're dead. How can –?"

"We don't know." Rhogan paced around the comfortably-sized room, his light blue eyes troubled in the moonlight. "We just know that there was some work done and this saved them."

Jak bit his lip so hard, a little blood spurted into his mouth as he uttered the one word that fit this revelation perfectly. "Shit."

"I know." Rhogan bit his own lip, though not as hard. "Have you heard from Jakuelynn...recently?"

"I know she's alive, and I would be on my way to see her if you hadn't called me over the second we were about to set off," the veteran warrior replied grumpily.

Rhogan put his hands up in defeat. "Okay, sorry. I don't have any more I want to say anyway."

Jak nodded very abruptly and began to turn around to leave, when –

"A-apart from...Jakuelynn. Could you g-give her my...my best and..." Words failed the Word Runner and he clenched both his fists and his jaw, turning away.

A match struck in Jak's mind. _Does Rhogan have feelings for my daughter?_ He cleared his throat. Rhogan's asking after Jakuelynn had become a daily occurrence. Jak didn't know if he was reading too deeply into it, but the younger man's concern seemed to go beyond more than just a professional one. "Yeah, Rhogan...I will." He walked away, his mind turning over like a spatula turning eggs on the morning frying pan.

The Leader watched as the other man disappeared into the night-time shadows, his shoulders slumping. He hoped to the Precursors Jakuelynn was alright, or at the very least, her eyes were open and she was breathing. He cared for her as deep as the Praxis-Mar clan rift reached and he was desperate to know how she was.

He was just too chicken to venture out into the Wasteland and find her himself. He wondered where this cowardice came from. Certainly not his mother, from what his dad had told him.

Sighing inwardly, he headed back to his personal bedroom; to an empty double bed to fall into an uneasy sleep.


	28. 27: The Risk I'll Always Take

**A/N: *grinning madly* Thanks for the review-rants! :D Now I've got you nicely hot-blooded over the Jak/Ashelin tryst, you can calm down now. It'll all be answered at the end. Or will it? All depends on how nice I feel by Chapter 40 (no exaggeration), or whenever this story ends. I'm drafting Chapter 36 as we speak. ANYWAY! Read & review or no Chapter 28. ~ Mika**

The anonymous humanoid shattered the still night air as it drilled into the rock. It offered much less resistance, which meant that they were almost at the crates of Dark Eco that were locked so tightly into the Temple Ruins.

"Come on, come on!" Yuhmer barked impatiently, tapping his foot. Back in Its volcano, It was growing steadily impatient with the progress on reaching the Dark Eco crates. Yuhmer had promised It that they would reach them today, despite the doubt in his heart. They were _so_ close he could almost taste the compound-strengthened metal of the crates, feel it beneath his fingers once it was safely out of the rocks and into the volcano.

"We're trying, Master!" the humanoid operating the drill yelled above the noise, shuddering violently as the drill continued its work into the once-sacred ruins.

"Try harder!" Yuhmer yelled, turning away, utterly disgruntled, his cloak billowing behind him as he moved on to the edge of the island the Ruins were on, scanning every inch of Wasteland that he could see. _A clear day ahead, with the strong chance of some storms coming. Especially caused by Dark Eco crates from the Wasteland Volcano over Spargus and Sandover City._ He smirked, a pleasurable shudder going through him at the thought of what It would do with the Eco crates once It got Its half-metallic hands on them. Suddenly, he remembered his son and that pleasure was replaced with a flash of irritation. Hopefully asleep at the house they shared, Rapace Yuhmerevich Krazak was eleven years old today. _Eleven_. Yuhmer couldn't believe how quickly time had passed. This meant it would have been almost eleven years since –

"Master?" a voice asked tentatively. Yuhmer suddenly noticed that the drilling – and the earth-vibrating shake that attended the noise – had stopped.

"What is it?" the young man snapped, whirling around, snapping out of his reverie. "And why have you stopped work – " He looked past the crouched figure to the gigantic hole in the wall that completely answered his question. A knife-like smirk razored his face.

"W-we-we've reached the Dark Eco crates, s-sir," the humanoid stammered, tone a little lower now that the lack of noise required it.

"Excellent. Bring the machine and begin extraction!" Yuhmer ordered, turning back to the vast expanse of the Wasteland. "Jakuelynn Mar Hagai...if you're out there...you'd better look out. You, your father..." His razor-smirk grew. "And your son, too."

~x~

Rapace Krazak woke up to an empty house. He was used to it, not to mention that every day Daddy was gone was another day where he didn't have to be punished for something he did or didn't do. For that, he was thankful.

He crawled out of bed, wondering what he should do today. It was the mid-Spring holidays, which he normally dreaded because that meant he had to be home with Daddy. However, given that his father had been out for most of the day every day since the beginning of Spring, this holiday was already looking up for him. He could go and see some friends of his that lived across the city – those who lived in houses, that is. Most of his friends' houses had been destroyed in the Metal Head attack last Season.

That was when Jakuelynn had gone away, and Daddy told him she would never be coming back.

Jakuelynn – whom he'd come to know as Aunty Nelly – suddenly flashed into his mind as he got onto his sore feet. He hadn't seen her in months; the last time he did, she looked very sad and angry and thin, like she hadn't eaten much. Her stomach was also round like she'd eaten too much, but he knew it was because it had a baby growing inside of it. He wanted to run up and give her the biggest hug that he had ever given. Of course, _Daddy_ was there to spoil everything, and the second _he'd_ seen Jakuelynn, he'd yanked Rapace away.

He missed her very much and wished that he could live with her. But if Daddy said she wasn't coming back, then she wasn't coming back.

For that, Rapace Yuhmerevich Krazak was very sad indeed. But he had helped Uncle Rhogan with something earlier that would show Daddy as a spy for...for whomever else he was working for.

As the young boy pulled on his clothes, he stared at the yellow, blue, green and purple patterns on his arms that looked like the patterns stained glass windows made when the sun shone through them. He suddenly realised that Daddy could be home any second. With a panicked rush that made his heart beat like a hummingbird's, he poured some cereal and milk into a bowl and grabbed a spoon, gobbling it quicker than humanly possible. When he was done, he washed, dried and replaced the bowl and spoon, heart racing, ears pricked for any footsteps as he also eradicated any evidence of the food reduction he'd just performed. It was only when he washed the cloth then he could breathe completely, ensuring that there was _absolutely_ no evidence of him feeding himself. He ran back upstairs, cereal sloshing around his stomach, making him feel sick, and got his key. He left the doors unlocked as he walked out the house as calmly as his racing heart would allow him to. Frantically, he swung his head from side to side, looking out for Daddy's vehicle. When he couldn't see it, he ran off in the direction of his closest friend's house, heart continuing to pound in fear.

~x~

Damas woke early, finding with a jolt of surprise that Jakuelynn was already awake and keeping watch over the desert. He attempted to stand up without scuffing the sand with his boots, which would let her know she was there –

"Good morning, big brother,"

– but that attempt failed.

"Good morning, Jakuelynn. Has there been anything approaching the horizon?" Damas asked calmly, in direct contrast to the freezing cold tone in the warrioress' voice.

"Nothing so far. But there's been something more troubling," she replied, not moving an inch.

Damas frowned, folding his arms. "What's that?"

"The drilling and bombing over at the Ruins." Jakuelynn turned her head, nodding towards them. "It's stopped. And no, they haven't stopped to take a break. They've been here since at least three, hammering and drilling away,"

"That _is_ perturbing," Damas agreed, his electric blue eyes slowly scanning the Ruins. There was no smoke, no vibrations and certainly no noise, but from what he could see, the Metal Heads and – he presumed – the humanoid figures were still there. There was a faint scraping sound as if something was resisting against rock, but other than that, no noise.

Suddenly, it clicked for the siblings. The lack of noise. The lack of smoke. The lack of vibrations. Jakuelynn voiced it before the words reached Damas' tongue.

"They've reached the Dark Eco crates!" she gasped, diving back into the cave. "They're trying to pull them out. _That's_ what that scraping sound is!"

If Damas had the same capacity to swear as his father allegedly did, he would have.


	29. 28: Good Days, Bad Days, I've Had A Few

**A/N: Hello everybody! Thanks for review and general lovage :D not much to say. Same disclaimers apply. Or no Chapter 29. ~ Mika**

Jak clung onto the huge gun on top of Sig's car for dear life as it roared through the Wasteland. He swung it around, firing on various stray Marauders as they approached from several miles away, ripples of satisfaction running through his veins as their cars flipped and exploded, often against each other, which amused him greatly. He was having _far_ too much fun taking Marauders out, so he was immensely disappointed when Sig's car suddenly jerked and screeched to a halt, almost throwing Jak off the gun. He hopped down onto the sandy ground with a thump, Daxter unbuckling and scooting back onto the taller man's shoulder, face paler than winter snow. Or it would have been if he was human.

"Enjoy that, Dax?" Jak asked, a smirk on his face.

The ottsel responded with a narrow-eyed glare and a caustic "_Always_, Jak!"

"Father!" a rough and young but distinctly female voice cried joyfully. Jak's head snapped to the source of the voice and his heart burst with wordless joy as he saw Jakuelynn – _not Keira, not Keira_ – alive, well and, most importantly, with her Morph Gun strapped to her back. She ran to greet him but inexplicably stopped short before him, defensive.

"Jakuelynn, come here!" Jak whispered, his voice breaking as his arms clenched tightly around his daughter. He held her tightly, squeezing his eyes shut to fight the tears as she released hers, dampening his red scarf. "H-how are you still alive, little one?" he whispered.

"The kindness of strangers, Father." Jakuelynn sniffed as she released her father, furiously wiping her eyes, the warrior blood in her surging, hiding the emotional side she'd just displayed. "R-Rufas? How is he? How's my son?"

"Relax, Nelly. He's fine. Getting more and more handsome every day. He smiled at me the other day." Jak felt his features soften as he remembered the memory.

Jakuelynn's heart fell. _His first smile and...I wasn't there?_ "You promise?" Her pupils were contracted in hysteria as the maternal instinct took over.

"Nel, have I ever lied to you?" Jak reasoned.

"N-no," she replied, her pupils returning to normal size. She turned, spotting Damas emerge from the cave with Seem and the children, joining herself and Jak. _Tell him_, a little voice said in the back of her mind. "Father, this is – " _Damas, your long lost son._ "This is Saldam Ar'Aigham. He's the man who's been taking care of me. And his children – " _Your granddaughter and grandsons_. She indicated each one with their respective names. "Oreyn, Kieron and Jayelle." She smiled at them in response to the uncertainty on their faces. "It's okay. He's not here to hurt us. This is Jak. My father." _Your grandfather._

"It's okay, children." Damas whispered, careful not to say any more. "Good to meet you, Jak," he said, a warm smile on his face. Something about him made Jak freeze as a chill of recognition ran up his spine and reached his brain. This recognition reached his heart, making it twist in a way he had not felt since he was reunited with Jakuelynn.

"N-nice to meet you too, Saldam," the veteran warrior stuttered, failing to keep his emotion in check as the twist throbbed with every heartbeat. He didn't know why this feeling suddenly blossomed in his heart. He just couldn't put his finger on it. "I hear you've been taking care of my daughter?"

"Of course I have," Damas said warmly. _She's my sister. Why wouldn't I?_

"Well...that's good," Jak said feebly.

Jakuelynn broke in. "I would offer you something to eat, Father, but – "

"We don't have many supplies left," Damas admitted, eerily finishing Jakuelynn's sentence. She gave him a look that mystified the veteran.

"Why didn't you say? Could've picked some up before we took off to you guys," Sig interjected, the lack of personal pronoun making the last half of the statement ambiguous as to whom he was referring to.

"We'll live," Jakuelynn shrugged. "We've got bigger obstacles. Like the fact that the Metal Head and humanoid factions have stopped making noise at the ruins,"

Jak's eyes widened. "They _stopped?_"

"Yeah, around eight," his daughter replied. "It's more than likely to mean that they've finally reached the Eco crates – "

"Then what the fuck are we doing here?" Jak interjected frustratedly. "Why don't we go say hello to these things?"

Jakuelynn grinned. "C'mon then, Big Daddy. Let's go say hello with a coupl'a friends of ours..."

~x~

Back in Sandover City, Nuala Ghosten listened to the silence of her empty house, her heart once again heavy. She had had another vision – or was it a dream? – regarding someone who was either her dead son, thirty years older and in full uniform or her husband, presumed dead. She turned her head, resting her black eyes on a school photo of Deimin. It had been taken in his final year of school, aged sixteen and two Seasons, when he'd insisted on having long hair which made him look more sullen and anti-social than he already did. Nuala chuckled at the memory, yet tears touched her eyes. She missed him terribly and she'd only met baby Rufas once or twice; it was, however, enough to understand her visions about him.

She also thought about Jakuelynn, whom she hadn't seen since the last time she'd seen Rufas. The young woman was finally talking – a breakthrough, according to Jak – but the anger and sadness was still very much present in her eyes, taking the form of darkness swirling in her green irises. She was understood to have also rejected all attempts at physical comfort in those nine or ten months, which at the time contrasted and battled strongly with Nuala's urges to reach out, take the young woman in her arms and hold her so tightly that she would break; that she would admit her softer side.

The clairvoyant shook her head, pulling her coat tightly about her. She would finally get out the house today; go and see her mother and that annoying bird who talked for her. Nuala considered that he _was_ in effect needed, her mother having been involved an accident had left her both blind and mute when Nuala was very young. The clairvoyant locked the doors and hurried out to the Bazaar, the famed tent instantly recognisable.

"Ah, Nuala. Onin welcomes you...blah blah blah...asks about you...asks about her granddaughters and great-grandson...all the usual boring salutations,"

"Everything's as well as it can be, Onin. As for Rufas...I haven't seen him in weeks. He'd be a full Season old now."

Pecker flapped a wing in contempt. He restrained himself when Nuala was here. "That's grrreat and all, but Onin wants to know if – _aaark!_ – you have seen Eraux in your own visions recently?"

By now, Nuala shouldn't be surprised that her mother knew of her visions, but she was. Each and every time. "Yes...yes, I have. But why? He was declared legally dead a decade ago."

Pecker bent down to read Onin's hands, rapidly translating as he went along. "Onin says...the actions always defy the words, and those whom you have lost may be closer than you think...Okay lady, that's enough from you."

"What, Mother? You're saying Eraux is alive?"

Pecker sighed, rattling off more translations. "Onin says to follow your heart and you will find what you're looking for. Oh, and the Viking Queen will return it to you at the gates of...Who's the Viking Queen? Anyway, the gates of home."

"Jakuelynn," Nuala answered, reeling back from the shock of what she'd just heard. _Jakuelynn is alive? She's going to bring my husband back to me?_

"Huh? Weell...that doesn't surprrrise me," Pecker grumbled sceptically. Before he could open his beak to tell her to go, Nuala was gone, the settling of the tent flap and a trail of footprints the sole indications that she'd ever been there.


	30. 29: But My Blue Eyes Cannot See

**A/N: Arrrghhh at overlong rehearsal pushing this update forward by...almost an hour! : ( Not impressed...Thanks for the reviews, JKA and Marneus, as always. Read and review or no Chapter 30. Yes, you read right, THIRTY. Big three-oh... ~ Mika**

"Gentle. Gentle. GENTLE with those crates! Fucking clumsy inbreds..."

"We're trying, Master!" one of the humanoids yelled, flimsy muscles straining as it and four others pushed the large yellow crate up the wooden slope that led to the truck, made out of the same materials. Eventually, after much grunting and straining and long, long minutes of waiting, all the crates were in the trucks, the viscous, volatile liquid contained swishing and slopping about dangerously.

"Finally, we have progress!" Yuhmer sighed in frustration, reminding himself to check on that little brat of his once this was done. "Okay, let's go. And try not to crack the crates, yeah? Dark Eco's fuckin' dangerous, especially in large quantities." _We need to make sure that _that _bitch isn't around and causing trouble for me._

"We know, Master," one of the humanoids affirmed as the line of trucks began to move off clunkingly, towards the giant volcano in the distance. All Yuhmer could do was sit and wait as the volcano grew bigger and bigger, time clunking by as slowly as the line of trucks. He kept a watch out on the Wasteland as the line progressed, seeing the occasional tiger-striped vehicle of Marauders, but luckily the viewing wasn't reciprocated. Despite the intense morning heat, Yuhmer felt cold sweat trickle down his back as his mind refused to acknowledge what his gut knew: that _Jakuelynn_ may be out there. If she was alive, she would be pissed off as anything at him. If Gaudus had, in fact, lied and sung like a canary to the Mar bitch, then she would know it was indeed Yuhmer who killed Deimin all those months ago.

This processed quickly and neatly in Yuhmer's mind until he reached one logical conclusion:

_I'm FUCKED._

~x~

"Saldam, are you happy to stay and hold the fort?" Jakuelynn had difficulty calling him 'Saldam' now that she knew his true identity.

Damas nodded. "I'm never one for action,"

She smiled. "Good. Seem...?" She didn't have any questions or requests from the aged monk.

"Do not concern yourself with me, Princess. I'll take care of myself and the children if necessary," Seem rasped, not opening her eyes.

"That's what you seem best at doing," Jakuelynn replied caustically. Seem did not appear to notice nor care about the young woman's tone, but she returned to her trance anyway.

"Yeah, you guys – and girl – go! I'll stay here...protect Saldam and the kids..." Daxter's voice buckled and trailed off under the intense green-eyed gaze of his best friend's daughter. He poked his best friend in the cheek. "Ehh, Jak..."

"Nel, d'you have spare ammo?" Jak asked, before realising it was, in fact, a useless question to ask. Jakuelynn's face confirmed it was indeed a stupid question anyway. "I've got some if you need it,"

"I don't think we will, somehow," she said roughly, a smirk on her face.

"How do you know that?"

She shrugged. "Just intuition,"

"Be very careful; a woman's intuition's gotten me into a mess before. No, not _that_ kind of mess! Precursors, Jakuelynn!" her father sighed exasperatedly as the warrioress' eyebrows wiggled suggestively. "C'mon, let's go or you're grounded when we get back to Sandover..."

"Father?"

"Yes, Jakuelynn?"

"Aren't I a bit old for grounding?"

~x~

It watched from Its custom-built viewing window under the volcano as the trucks slowly approached in single file. It tapped Its metallic fingers anxiously, hoping that there wasn't a single crack in those large yellow-and-black crates. It realised that this display of anxiety contradicted Its seventy-two per cent metallic appearance, but It didn't care. Those crates had to be delivered safely.

It got up and out of Its room, strolling calmly into the Weapon Systems room. Teams of mechanics and scientists, some of which rebuilt It after Its...unfortunate altercation with a famed figure several years back. A diamond-slicing smirk crossed Its face as It surveyed the entire room, the large hybrid metal/wooden cannons pointing out of various holes towards all the major cities within range on the planet.

"Everything running smoothly?" It asked a passing scientist, who jumped and put her hands behind her back in respect.

"Yes, Master. Everything is running perfectly. We'll be ready in..." She looked to the sky as she made her calculations. "Two hours,"

"Two hours. Excellent. Tell me, what is your name?"

"M-my name?" the scientist stammered. "I'm Dr Arianna Geurkin, Master,"

"Arianna Geurkin. Well, Arianna, I'll make sure you and your team get a bonus in your wage packet if all goes to plan."

Arianna straightened up. "Y-yes, Master. Trust me, it will go to plan,"

"It had better," It said, the hint of menace in Its voice turning the promise into a threat. "If it doesn't, Doctor, heads will roll...starting with yours. Now, move along!"

"Y-yes, Master!" Arianna stammered, giving a little bow, whirling away and heading in the direction she was originally going. It looked after her, giving the smallest sigh Its volume control would let It. If It – when It was human – had ever had a daughter, a biological daughter, then Arianna Geurkin would be that daughter. Smart, observational, occasionally manipulative and willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. Even if it meant sleeping with the brass of command. Not It, of course – It never included girls in Its sexual preferences.

"Master?"

It turned. "Ah, Yuhmer! Do you have good news for me?"

The young man stepped back and opened a hand dramatically in the direction of the Dark Eco-crate-carrying trucks, which were trundling in slowly, one at a time. If It was so inclined, It would have clapped Its hands in delight.

"Excellent, Master Krazak. Take the rest of the day off, if you so desire. I believe you have a son to go home to?"

Yuhmer's face darkened – or maybe It imagined it. "With all due respect, Master, I would rather assist with the loading of the Dark Eco crates into the cannons. I feel that I am as keen as you to put this plan into action."

It grinned. "Yuhmer, Yuhmer, Yuhmer...you never fail to let me down, do you? Very well then. Stay; stay and watch my glorious plan put into action!"

~x~

Rhogan clicked off the speaker and looked at Torn, his eyes wide.

"So _that's_ what they were planning to do with those Eco crates!" he gasped. He'd gotten Rapace Krazak to clip a microphone onto his father's jacket just before he'd left the house that morning. This meant he heard every exchange that had occurred over the past three hours. The anger that had only settled a few hours ago boiled again.

"Where's Jak right now?" Torn rasped, squeezing his fists, echoing his son's.

"Out there with Sig and Jakuelynn..." _Heading towards the Ruins, I presume, unless they're following the Eco crates towards the volcano._ "Out in the Wasteland."

Torn grabbed his son's shoulders. "Mar _damn_ it, Rhogan Tornerò Praxis, get on that communicator to Jak _right now!_" he growled.

"Dad, I would if you weren't hurting me!" Rhogan yelled back. His father released his shoulders and the Leader picked up his communicator, frantically opening a channel. "Why do you have such a _thing_ for Jak, anyway? D'you still feel guilty over what you did for twenty-five years?"

Torn chose not to answer that. "Just get on the comm. right now!"

"Don't question me." Rhogan mocked his father's rasp. "Is that right?"

The older man twisted his mouth, unwilling to utter a response.


	31. 30: I'm So Tired Of Being Here

**A/N: Helloo everyone and thanks for reviews! Early update as have been spontaneously invited over to a family friend's (sorry, Marneus) but will not be getting too drunk as I have to get up at 6:20 tomorrow morning -_- damn work! Ah well. Landmark Chapter 30. Usual stuff applies. ~ Mika**

Jak's communicator buzzed in his hand as the large vehicle roared through the desert once again. He opened the channel, frowning in surprise as he saw the name on his screen.

"Rhogan?"

"Jak! Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here! What is it?" Jak yelled, ignoring the look on Jakuelynn's face as she turned around upon hearing the Leader's name.

"They've moved on from the Ruins," Rhogan said, the communicator crackling and fizzing. "They're at the volcano. The Metal Heads, humanoids and Yuhmer, they got the Dark Eco crates and they're planning on doing something with them involving cannons. I think...I think they're going to launch them somehow!"

Jak's eyes widened.

"Father, what is it?" Jakuelynn yelled over the noise of the vehicle and the whipping sand. "What's Rhogan said?"

"If you're heading towards the Ruins – " Rhogan began, but he stopped. Jak adn Daxter bent their ears closer to the speaker. "If you're heading towards them, turn back. They're in the volcano, I promise,"

"Wait, Rhogan!" Jakuelynn yelled. "How did you know all of this?" She half-expected her voice to be carried away by the wind and thus not reach Rhogan, so she was surprised when he answered.

"Jakuelynn, it's good to hear your voice again!" A laugh followed. "I managed to get a microphone wired into Yuhmer's jacket. By the way, did you know that Yuhmer's working for...well, whomever is running this operation?"

"Not only that, he's the one who killed Deimin!" Jakuelynn saw the look on her father's face and then the one on Sig's. "Don't ask, Jak, I'll tell you later. Sig, you're not saying a word."

"Wait, _what?_" Daxter yelled. "What? Didja torture someone?"

Jakuelynn and Sig looked at each other.

"Also, whomever is running this operation – _It_, apparently – is also the new Metal Head Leader!"

"Oh, _fuck_," Jakuelynn exclaimed, slapping a hand over her mouth. Sig screeched to a halt and turned the vehicle around sharply, just in time to see a band of oncoming Marauders.

"Jakuelynn, get on the gun!" he yelled before his brain reached his mouth. Jakuelynn unbuckled herself and clambered over her father and his best friend, hauling herself onto the gun and clenching the trigger tightly as she used to grab Deimin's hand when she was nervous, swinging the gun around and firing at everything that approached as the vehicle roared off towards the volcano – which, considering a major world-dominating plot was supposed to be hatching, was deathly silent, aside from the occasional below-hearing-threshold rumblings.

~x~

"Where's the defence plans for the city?"

"Why?"

Torn looked at his son with flaming eyes. "Rhogan, if this plan's as big as we overheard, this city's in a shit-ton of trouble. We need the best defences we can if this city's going to survive it,"

"Did we over – "

"_RHOGAN!_" Torn took a deep breath through gritted teeth. "Yes. Yes, we did. This...this _thing_, whomever or whatever IT is, has a massive amount of Dark Eco in its possession. If It goes ahead with Its plan, it'll not only destroy Sandover, but the whole fucking world. Do you get me, Rhogan?"

"Yes, Dad! I understand! Precursors, get off my back, for once." Rhogan narrowed his eyes at his father. "The defence plans are right here." The City Leader dived down beneath his desk, entering three different codes and pressing his hand against a scanner before the drawer itself opened, revealing about ten sheets of blueprints. Rhogan dived back up, spreading the plans on the desk, quickly running through them with his father. When he was done, he found that he was out of breath. He looked at his father, who had one eyebrow raised.

"Say something, Dad,"

"Those defence plans of yours?" There was an edge in his voice that Rhogan didn't like.

The younger man forced himself to keep calm. "What about them?"

"Would they, perchance, only work if Jakuelynn was here to spearhead them, being the official City Protector?"

"No," Rhogan cut across, an answer which surprised Torn. "This can also work with her second-in-command."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Torn growled. "Get on to her!"

"Hey, BACK off, Dad! I didn't see _you_ doing anything good for the city aside from choosing to leave it!" Rhogan shot back, picking up his communicator and opening a channel, shooting to the other side of the room to gain more privacy. "L'amoretha? It's Rhogan. Yes, it's about the defence plans. We've learned of a Metal Head plot on an imminent attack on the city. We need mobilisation. Now."

Torn nodded approvingly as Rhogan shut off the channel and looked at him scathingly.

"Remember, Dad, I trained to be a lawyer, not a City Leader. _YOU_ would be far more adept at this than I would,"

"Actually, I think the adeptness at running the city used to lie with your mother,"

"Before she was betrayed and murdered by her own twin sister?"

Torn nodded, not saying a word, his face tight. Suddenly, Rhogan felt guilty for letting his temper display in front of his father. He swallowed and asked the feeblest question he could.

"D'you want something to eat or drink? It's going to be a long day."

Torn nodded stiffly, thawing a little.

~x~

In the Wasteland atop of Sig's car, Jak was on the gun whilst his daughter gripped her own gun in her hands, vision – even in goggles – blurred by the wind. At that moment, if one simply happened to see the odd trio kicking up sand as they roared through the desert, the only way to distinguish Jak from Jakuelynn would have solely been the silver in his hair. Both were tense and waiting, both had their fingers caressing the triggers.

"Hey, Chilli, Firecracker. You alright up there?" Sig yelled.

Daxter spluttered, squeezing his eyes shut against the flesh-stripping sand. "Big Daddy and Viking Queen? They're all good here! I, however, am getting SAND in whatever fur is NOT getting stripped off by the wind!"

"Oh Daxter. I'll personally make sure you're compensated for when we get back to Sandover," Jakuelynn said, a trace of sarcasm in her voice. "Yeah, we're good here. Nothing on the horizon!"

"Nothing?" Sig yelled. _Huh, that's worrying._ He turned back to the front of the vehicle, seeing that the surrounding rocks around the volcano were fast approaching. Following his gut instinct, he slowed down until the engine simply purred underneath him and until he was as close as he could get to the large, dark opening in the rock.

Something was wrong. Things _were_ far too quiet.

"Sig, what is it?" Jak called, hopping back down to the front, lifting his goggles and lowering his scarf. "It's...it's far too quiet around here..."

"'S what I thought, Chili."

"Stop the car, something's wrong!" Jakuelynn interjected, her gut reacting in the same way as Sig's and her father's. "I'll go check it out. Father, Dax, stay here. If something's up, I'll call." She hopped out the car, gun nestling comfortably in her hands as she walked cautiously towards the large entrance. The two men (and ottsel) watched as the young woman shrank in their visions.

"Hey, young lady –! Oh, you are _definitely_ grounded when we get back to the city," Jak grumbled, far too late in more than one respect.

"Hey, Chili. She's old enough to take care of herself out there, if that's what you're worried about," Sig said, half-jokingly.

"I wanna go with her," Jak grumbled, sounding for all the world like a child deprived of his treat.

"Now, she's just been reunited with you. And Chilli, with all due respect, you ain't as young as you were when I first met you. You get killed, she'll never let it go. So let _her_ go, 'kay?"

_But she's my daughter_, Jak wanted to say. _She's my little girl. My baby._

~x~

Jakuelynn switched her goggles to night vision as she lowered them over her eyes when she entered the cave. She held her Morph Gun upright in her hands, as tightly gripped as it had been on the way to the cave. The desert wind did not reach here; her breathing was the loudest sound and it bounced off the jagged walls, unnerving her to no end. She held her breath as she squeezed past a nest of Metal Head Bats, Mar's Armour scraping along the rock. She sent a silent apology to her ancestor before realising that over the centuries the armour had probably endured worst things than being scraped along rock.

As soon as she saw that there were no more obstacles in her way, she unpeeled herself from the rock and stood with her legs apart in the middle of the long tunnel, gun pointing forward, her laser disappearing in the dark. She walked forward slowly and cautiously, breathing evenly, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. She was almost at the end; almost at where she was sure was the main entrance to...to whatever was going on that meant Deimin had to die.

_Deimin_...Her heart clenched in agony again and she shook her head. _No. I can't let this stop me._ She swallowed and inched forward, but something on her shoulder wouldn't let her. Slowly, she lowered her head to look at her left shoulder.

A human hand was holding it.

The hand whirled her around to face Yuhmer, also with night vision goggles.

"Peek a boo, daughter of Mar!" he said in a mocking, sing-song manner, echoing the words of a long-defeated nemesis. Something heavy hit her head and she sank to the ground, only one thought running through her head as she sank into darkness.

_Shit._


	32. 31: Don't Ever Let It Go

**A/N: Hello everyone. Busy weekend. Exhausted. Read/ review. No Chapter 32. Yes...Guerkin = Gherkin. Have a laugh. ~ Mika**

**Trivia: Cannon names = military operations. Look them up if you feel brainy enough :P**

It paced around the room as teams of Lifters struggled to carry the crates of Dark Eco into the cannons. There were eight cannons in all, poking out of large holes around the semicircular room, a machine in the middle working out all the complications quicker than the scientists ever could. It, however, was extremely impatient and caught the shoulder of the woman in charge as she re-entered the room after a brief excursion.

"You! Doctor Geurkin. Is everything ready?"

The doctor gave a little bow. "Everything's ready, Master. We just need to secure the crates – to ensure that they don't explode in this room, Master, you understand?" she said hurriedly as she saw the look on Its face change several times.

"Yes, Dr Geurkin. I understand."

Arianna nodded her thanks. "Oh, and I-I've just heard from Yuhmer. He found the Princess in one of the tunnels and is taking her to...to another room. I'm not sure where."

The human half of Its face lit up. "Excellent, Doctor! Continue." It made a small movement with Its fingers before striding regally (and mechanically) out of the room and flipped open Its communicator.

"Yuhmer!"

A buzz before the answer. "Yes, Master!"

"I hear you have the girl. Where are you?"

"The interrogation room, Master."

"Good." A smirk crossed the cyborg's face. "Chain her up. I'll be there in a minute."

"Yes, Master," Yuhmer said quietly, giving a little bow and continuing along his way, the unconscious warrioress dragging along behind him.

~x~

Time languidly stretched on outside as Jak, Daxter and Sig waited for the warrioress to return. Jak's anxiety grew as time passed and the sky darkened, signalling night. Eventually, he gave a little grunt and jumped athletically out of the car, Daxter clinging on to the tough pad on the older man's left shoulder.

"Jak, where you goin'?" Sig yelled, sighing. The last thing he needed was another Mar getting himself into difficulty.

"Fuck this waiting, Sig. Something's up. Jakuelynn's not back!" Jak yelled, slinging his Morph out and pointing it in front of him, ready for anything.

"Chilli, maybe she's just...busy. Y'know?" Sig tried to reason.

"Busy?" Jak yelled against the growing storm, charging straight into the large tunnel that led into the centre of the volcano. _What, busy kicking arse? Busy being captured? Either way, I'm not sitting here waiting._

"Uhh, JAK?" Daxter yelled, squeezing his eyes shut against the sand. "Is this really a good idea?"

"Relax, Dax. It'll be fine." Jak twisted his mouth to one side, frowning.

"Either way, I ain't got a good feeling about this!" the ottsel said, crossing his furry arms.

"Me neither, Dax," the veteran agreed, voicing his true thoughts for the first time. "Me neither."

Defying the instincts that screamed for them to get back in the car, the two progressed further into the darkness until it completely swallowed them up from any field of vision, pausing only to lower their goggles and switch them to Night Mode.

~x~

Sig turned the car around with a screech and protests from the engine, roaring back to Spargus as quickly as possible, thanking the Precursors that the Wasteland had no speeding laws, nor laws of any kid. What disturbed him on his drive home was the lack of Marauders in the desert, which never happened, not even in the fiercest of wars; the toughest of battles. The large gate loomed up before him, its cogs turning as it opened and closed quickly for and after him. It screeched to a halt an inch away from the other buggies present in the garage. Kleiver had passed on over a decade ago in a mysterious manner, his body found decimated and stripped entirely of flesh in the Wasteland. There were many theories about _how_ he'd died – some suspected he was dealing with Metal Heads and Marauders and he had not been able to uphold his end of a deal, leading to a nasty end. Others believed he knew his time was coming and had driven himself into the Wasteland, ending his life in a particularly severe storm.

Either way, Daxter had been happy. He had never forgotten the day they'd first done a deal with Kleiver, which involved the threat of being turned into ottsel soup.

"Sire!" the panicked voice of a young man crackled out over the communicator. "Are you there? Are you back in Spargus, or at least, alive?"

"Ternias, get to the turrent now!" Sig barked. "Remember what I told you. Concentrate, keep calm and do _not_ miss any missiles that may come from the ruins!"

"Yes, sir!" the young man replied, the crackle stopping as the channel cut off. Sig paused for a moment, wheezing thinly before continuing. _I'm way too old for this shit._

~x~

"Everything secure?" Arianna yelled as the last crate was tested and locked in place. It was finally secured with a foreboding _clang_ that echoed around the room, bouncing off like a ricocheting bullet.

"Yes, ma'am!" one of the humanoid creatures called back. The doctor felt a warm ripple of relief spread over her as the creatures got into position. She dived behind the small machine – small only in comparison to the rest of the equipment positioned around the small, sandy room. It was indeed dangerous to have such large equipment containing a volatile and dangerous liquid in a small room with so many...well, to use "people" was pushing it in Arianna's eyes for many of the creatures present in the room. She was the only _real_ living organism in the room that could be counted as a "person", with all the legal and civil rights that were attributed with the term.

The rest could only be called "minions", though there was neither scientific nor common name for their species.

"Albion ready?" she called.

"Cannon Albion ready and secure," one of the called to her furthest left – the first cannon on that side.

"Excellent." She nodded. "Hush ready?"

"Cannon Hush ready and secure," they confirmed.

"Mincemeat secure?"

"Cannon Mincemeat ready and secure."

"Nimrod? Success? Vulture? Desert Strike?" she asked impatiently, not wishing to make this wait longer than necessary. All answered in the affirmative.

Her fingers hovered over the necessary buttons on the large panel of the machine. She thought it a terrible waste that for such a large panel with so many buttons for different functions and operations, only three or four would be used to carry out this particular operation to ensure its success.

She looked up, a wicked smile crossing her face. Her next word was something that almost sealed the fate of the world.

"Fire."


	33. 32: Can't Hold On To The Fear

**A/N: Thanks fur reviews and suchlike. If this chapter doesn't make you at least wet-eyed I want my figurative money back. Two films are in this: Visuals inspired by "Silent Hill", certain lines directly from "Inception" (see if you can find them). Title from Evanescence. Characters from my own spawning. Read, review, enjoy, get teary. ~ Mika**

When Jakuelynn woke up, all she saw was a tainted, flaking, constant white.

It wasn't a bright white light; more like the cloudy, smoggy sort that used to be found back when Sandover City was Haven City and there was no brooding undercurrent of rain and thunder to be found. Something tickled her face, followed quickly by something else. She brushed her face, looking at her hand. A greyish white was smeared across it, and her nerves were awakened as more of it hit her exposed skin, tickling her.

"Where am I?" she whispered as she hauled herself to her feet. She looked around slowly, astonished. The ground beneath her feet was solid, cracked and black with a few grass strands the colour of her roots poking through. This disturbed her, but not as much as the subsequent images. Everywhere she looked, destruction lay. Blackened buildings crumbled pathetically and slowly to the ground, white-dusted beams and objects lay everywhere. She took a tentative step forward, expecting the ground to crumble beneath her feet. When it didn't, she was surprised but quickly took another step and another...and another, until she was running through the endless post-apocalyptic nightmare of a wasteland.

"Hello?" she called. "Is anyone there?" She felt for her Morph Gun, a knife of panic shafting through her when she realised she didn't have it. She stopped to check herself, the knife of panic easing when she saw she still had her clothes and armour on.

"Nelly?"

Her head snapped up to see a distant, silhouetted figure. She squinted, trying to bring the figure further into focus.

"Who is it?" Once again, she instinctively reached for her gun.

"Nelly, it's me..."

Her mind processed the voice. It took a few minutes, but once she realised whom the owner was, her heart broke all over again, fresh waves of pain engulfing her.

"D-Deimin?" she whispered, taking more steps towards this figure. "Deimin? Is that you?" she yelled, breaking into a run. Her heart raced as the figure got closer and closer until she skidded to a halt before the figure, kicking up some gravel.

The black-clad figure smiled. "Hey, Nelly,"

"Deimin!" she yelped, throwing her arms around him and clutching him tight, throwing all caution to the wind. Despite herself, tears leaked out of her eyes as her long-lost lover wrapped his arms around her, holding her just as tightly as she was him. "Oh, Day...Day, I've missed you so much."

"I know, darling. And I've missed you just as much. It's driven me crazy not holding you close...not being able to be with you in the physical world. S-seeing you break down the way you did because of _me_? It's...it's been torture." Deimin's voice broke as he breathed her in, not wanting to ever eradicate her from his memory. They let go slowly, leaving only their hands joined. "How's Rufas doing?"

Jakuelynn smiled through her tears. "Rufas? H-he's fine. He's the image of you, Day. You should be there..."

Deimin closed her eyes. "I...I know, Nel. And I want to, so badly. But I have to stay here until this shit's resolved, and to resolve it you can't stay here,"

"W-where are we?"

"There's no name for this place. It's...the future of the world, in a way. B-but it's only what happens if...if It succeeds in Its plan. The whole world will be destroyed. Only the dead are going to be left. You have to go back, Jakuelynn. You have to stop It...and Yuhmer." Deimin's shoulders dropped with his head the way he always did when he was expecting or delivering bad news. "You can't stay."

Jakuelynn shook her head, tears pouring down her face and sizzling as the plopped onto the ground. "Day...Don't let me leave you again! I c...I can't do this without you."

Deimin took her face between his hands. "I...I miss you more than I can bear, but we had our time together. Baby, you have to let me go. Twenty-one years, we were together – as friends, as lovers, as family. That's a great life to have, right? And...I'm always with you. Just remember that. You can't see me, hold me, smell me, but you'll always feel me near. I promise." He took one of her hands in both of his. "You need to leave and don't look back, or you'll never get back and all this..." He gestured around him. "All this will be real."

Jakuelynn nodded, jaw set, which contradicted the tears flooding her face. "Where do I go?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"Just keep running forward. Away from me. You'll know." Deimin stroked her wet cheeks with his thumbs. "I love you, Princess Jakuelynn Mar Hagai," he whispered, pulling her closer and locking her lips into a nucleic, Light-filled kiss. Her heart shattering into a million pieces, she kissed back equally feverishly, the ground hissing more and more as tears from her face hit it. She felt the Light Eco in her grow and flood her entire body, and somehow, she knew that Deimin was Attracting it and giving it all to her. She broke the kiss off and they held each other tightly for several seconds before finally, reluctantly, releasing each other.

"I love you too, Deimin Mar Ghosten," she sobbed.

"I'll see you again soon, Nelly. I promise!" Deimin called after her as she fled, doing as requested and never looking back, as much as her heart and soul wanted to.

~x~

_**First-person P.O.V.**_

"Wake up!" I heard someone yell from before me as I kept running – away from Deimin, away from this horrible place that would be my world if I didn't.

"Wake the fuck up, you bitch!"

My eyes snapped open only to see the one man I hoped would burn slowly and painfully in Inferno once I was done with him. I clenched my fist and attempted to bring it forward to meet his face, but it stopped short, something holding my wrist back.

Yuhmer laughed. "You really didn't think I'd let you be near me without some form of restraint, did you?"

I gritted my teeth, yanking the restraints some more.

"There's no use. They were specially built for freaks like you, from the toughest Precursor-infused compound. Did you know that?"

The Dark Eco in my system threw itself against my skin, begging me to let it take over and shred Yuhmer to pieces. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't get free enough to let it. Going by what he said, turning Dark wouldn't free me, either.

He laughed. The sound was like a knife through my ears. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time. To get you alone. To get you defenceless. To get you...well. Here." Without warning – and without me noticing – something pierced my shoulder, causing it to explode in pain. A cry of agony was born in my stomach. The muscles in it clenched and I slammed my jaw shut, preventing it from escaping my body. No way was this cunt ever going to know that he was hurting me.

"Ah, Jakuelynn Mar, you don't scream now, but you will later, I promise you," Yuhmer threatened, his cold grey eyes locking onto mine. My breathing was forced through my nose, all the hate I had in my body in my eyes. "Yeah, I know you hate me. Not a lot of people like me. Not even Rapace. Still, I managed to sort _him_ out..."

"What do you mean, 'sort him out'?" I growled. "If you've hurt that little boy, I'll – "

"Kindly shut the fuck up, Eco freak, yes?" Yuhmer said calmly, a hand pressed over my mouth. His stench filled my nostrils, making my stomach churn. "You're not gonna do anything because you're not getting out of here alive,"

"Who says?" I growled beneath his hand, clamping my teeth down on whatever soft flesh of his was between my lips. He yelped and jerked his hand away from my mouth, using his good hand to slap me across the face for good measure.

"You're _definitely_ gonna pay for that, you blue-blooded bitch!"

I sighed, conveying my boredom. Was there never going to be an end to the continual references to my heritage? "Jeez, Yuhmer. That's original."

Yuhmer growled, unable to think of a comeback. Just then, I heard the sound of mechanical whirring and earth-shaking footsteps and my heart stopped. My breathing struggled and I just stared as if hypnotised directly in front of me as a half-human, half-robot..._thing_ entered – I believe they're called cyborgs – and stopped in front of me.

_This must be the It that everyone talks about_, my stunned and numbed brain churned out. Without consenting my brain, my mouth churned out a gasped "No!"

A diamond-slicing smirk crossed It's face. "So, Jakuelynn Mar Hagai, we meet again."

"You!" My voice was stronger the time. "It was YOU! All this time, all of this...YOU were behind it all!" I was shouting by this point. Yuhmer looked very nervous, which gave me a momentary feeling of satisfaction.

It chuckled. "That's right. You thought you killed me, didn't you? Put several bullets right in my head at the tender age of eighteen." It strode towards me until it reached me, locking eye with me. "I have news for you, _Nelyn_. I survived the magic trick you pulled on me. And now, with Yuhmer's help, I'm going to destroy this world and take you with me!"

"And I've got news for you too." Anger made my body shake. "Nelyn died eight whole fucking years ago. You killed her. But you, you piece of mutated shit. You will NOT kill me, oh Highest Master. Or should I say...Archduchess Roah Praxis? Which name would you prefer?"


	34. 33: They Say It's Possible To Me

**A/N: Hey, everybody! Thanks for reviews. Marneus, as I told you last night, that was EXACTLY the reaction I expected. Usual disclaimers and threat/ plea apply. And after that bombshell...Torn uttering an expletive. ~ Mika**

"Oh _shit_!" Torn exclaimed, his icy blue eyes widening as several dark missiles streaked the air towards Sandover City.

"Queren, NOW!" Rhogan bellowed into his communicator. "Shoot the incoming missiles!"

"Yes, sir!" he heard Queren respond. He watched the gun turret – what he could see of it; it was a fair distance away – as it aimed at and shot the Dark Eco-infused missiles with startling accuracy. Rhogan felt a wave of relief surge through him as his trust in the young man was confirmed. The missiles exploded upon impact with the double-concentrated Yellow Eco, but they would split into smaller ones upon impact, which continued their trajectory towards the city. Still, Queren shot with dogged determination until even the smallest, most powerful ones were gone. As a result, a large purple cloud covered the city, blocking out the sun.

Suddenly, Rhogan realised that this was what Roah wanted all along. He did not know the exact type of missiles used, but some instinct told him that the missiles were built to be shot.

Only then could they wreak their devastating impact in some way.

"That wasn't mean to happen," he said, his voice rough, weak with realisation.

"What?"

"This was what Roah wanted all along!" Rhogan said, louder, almost shouting. "The missiles were meant to be shot. There's...there's something in them which can only be activated – some kind of Dark Eco distributing device – if the missiles are shot in mid-air."

"You _know_ this?" his father asked.

Rhogan faltered then. "No, b-but I...I can feel it. How else can that big dark purplish cloud be explained?"

"Dark Eco?"

"Clearly, Dad, but Dark...Eco...doesn't...linger!" Rhogan sighed in frustration and opened a channel. "Air Force, take off now, see what's going on in the sky!"

"Sir, it looks like a cloud of Dark Eco – "

"I KNOW THAT, just go and see if there's anything going on behind it!" the City Leader almost yelled, slamming the button to cut channel off before the woman on the other end could reply and opening yet another one. "General Armaigh, tell the Ground Army to station themselves around the city borders in case of an attack on foot,"

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't let those fuckers _breathe_ near our city," Rhogan growled, flipping off the communicator. He put it down and looked at his father.

"You _are_ suited for war after all, Rho," he said, almost tenderly.

"Don't get used to it, Dad," Rhogan replied gruffly. He was not comfortable with this manner.

~x~

Jak held his breath as the door at the end of the tunnel opened and he slipped in un-noticed. He was confronted with being in the middle of a long, curved corridor that seemingly had no beginning and no end.

"Uhh, Jak, where do we go?" Daxter hissed in his ear.

"I don't know, Dax," the veteran warrior honestly replied. After a few seconds, he made the decision to go right. It was lucky they'd found that Dark Eco crystal lodged in the wall in the tunnel otherwise Jak was sure he would have been shot on the spot the second the door opened. He and Daxter were now invisible to everyone and everything present.

"What are we looking for?"

"My daughter?"

"Alright, tough guy, don't get smart-arsed with me. Are we looking for, er, a particular smell? Loud noises such as screams?"

Jak hated to admit it, but his best friend had a point. He also hated to admit that he didn't have the slightest clue as to what and where to look for Jakuelynn. He loved to say later that he knew exactly where he was going to find the young woman, but when it came down to it, the truth was that he followed his gut and ignored Daxter's protests of "You SURE this is the right way?" and "Ew...these Metal Heads sure could use a shower every so often!"

It was only when a sudden, muffled growl reached his ears that Jak stopped altogether.

~x~

Yuhmer fled the room as soon as Cyber Roah – which is what everybody secretly thought of her as, but nobody ever called to her face for fear of losing their heads – gave him permission to do so. He went round the back of the volcano, reaching the Air Strikers just as they were about to take off. Hopping into his own plane, he strapped himself in, put on the necessary equipment and started the plane.

"HQ, are we ready for take-off?"

"Striker One, this is HQ, you're all clear for take-off."

"Thanks." Yuhmer switched the channel to the rest of the fleet. "Okay, Strikers, we all know what we have to do. We have to get to the large cloud of Dark Eco currently spreading over the land and drop the Green Eco through it. With any luck, the Dark Eco and the cargo will combine and form our first and main line of attack. Once they've weakened the cities, then the Metal Head assault will begin. Do you copy?"

This was received with the affirmation of all members of the fleet. Yuhmer smiled, pressing all the necessary buttons and pedals to launch the plane. He was, rather conveniently, a qualified pilot, having passed the required tests five years ago. He hoped _she_ would be watching...both of them. One in horror and despair at the destruction of her family, her world and everything she loved and the other in pure delight at the aforementioned.

Of course, he reasoned, you can't see anything if you're imprisoned in a windowless room.

"Let's go to work, boys and girls."

The entire fleet took off with nobody forgetting to leave the brake on, crashing, fatal explosions, fatalities and no hitches in general. They flew in formation, quickly reaching the thickening purple cloud and zooming up and over it before the Dark Eco could touch the planes themselves and mess with the electronics and engineering of the planes.

Yuhmer slowed his plane right over the centre of the large cloud, moving his fingers to another group of buttons to his left. "Is everybody in position?"

"Roger that, Striker One. Ready when you are."

"In five..."

The last plane got into position.

"Four..."

The pilots spotted the group of buttons.

"Three..."

A low rumbling sounded...

"Two..."

...but the pilots were more concentrated on remembering the sequence in which to press the buttons.

Suddenly, the low rumbling turned into a familiar roaring sound as forty or more planes suddenly appeared from the direction of Sandover.

"What the fu – "

The man speaking got no further before his plane turned into a fireball with pieces of plane and metal. Yuhmer's throat suddenly constricted and he moved his fingers to the weapons panel.

"Forget the Green Eco. Regroup and attack!" he yelled, panicking as he swung his plane around on the oncoming fleet and firing as much as he could. Sweat poured down the back of his neck as he saw Karma take her revenge over the course of the next half-hour.

_I'm definitely fucked._


	35. 34: Don't You See? The Boy Is YOU, Jak!

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for reviews (and hello Becks, long time no see!) I was listening to/ watching "Jak II" cutscenes whilst writing this chapter, hence the title. Also, as a side note in case you got confused: the "~x~" halfway through is where the Epilogue happens. Just so you know. Read, review, enjoy ^_^ Rating comes into force again due to Jakuelynn being her father's daughter and...er...well...you'll see. ~ Mika**

_**Jakuelynn**_

The cyborg flinched, very humanly, and another ripple of satisfaction spread through me when I saw I'd hit a nerve by calling her by her human name.

"You may call me Master," she said, stiffly.

Despite myself, I laughed. "You have _got_ to be kidding me. Master? No fucking way."

The cyborgs mock-sighed. "Still as non-submissive to authority as ever, hmm? Of course, you have no problems when taking orders from Rhogan. Ah, my nephew. Such a disappointment. So much like his mother and as stubborn as his father, too. Whomever that might be."

I froze at that point. _Hang on..._ "His father? His father is Torn. The one who used to spy for you and give you unwilling victims and their families? Remember him?"

"Of course I do, girl!" the cyborg snapped. Jakuelynn 2 – Roah 0, despite all the metal. "Is Rhogan's father really Torn? If I recall rightly, your father had a _very_ good time with his mother around, hmm, thirty years ago, it would be now? Gosh, thirty years. That's passed in the blink of an eye." She stared at me, willing my face to show a reaction. Eight years of doing what I do had taught me to keep a poker face. Inside was an entirely different story; my stomach turned over and over at the thought. Rhogan? My...my half brother? Could this be possible? And did Jak really...

"It's not possible!" I retorted, although even to my own long ears, it sounded feeble. "It can't be. It just can't..."

If the cyborg's face could light up, I had no doubt it would have. "There are some things about Jak that you evidently _don't _know. Well. I'd be delighted to tell you..." It smirked, drawing a long, thin reed of metal out. "I'd rather use you appropriately whilst I have you." Without warning, it slid the thin metal through the centre of my hand. It was then I let out a moan of agony, blood pouring from the wound.

"Do you get hard from this?" I grunted, pain throbbing from my hand. "You do, don't you? You never were very ladylike in spite of your title, _Archduchess_,"

"That's not my NAME!" the cyborg yelled, slamming its metal fist straight into the hand it had just pierced. I felt rather than heard all the bones in my hand break, the blood vessels explode and the veins break open and burst like a dam. An animalistic scream of agony ripped from my throat. Unimaginable pain seared through me for several minutes and my body shook with agony. It then chose to slam my body hard against the rock, causing several more bones to break, I'm sure. The pain overwhelmed me to the point where I stopped feeling anything at all and my head hung with giving in to it.

~x~

"You know, Roah..." I wheezed, pain stabbing me every time I breathed. "You always were a cunt. I'm...not surprised that you and Yuhmer...worked so well together. You took _his_ son many years ago, but he still manages...to forgive you enough to...work for you years later." Chuckles escaped my throat. "Y'know, he's...a cunt as well. As much as you were." My head suddenly snapped up and I directed all my hate at her. "Go on then. Kill me. KILL ME!" I chuckled again, possibly in shock from what had just happened.

Cyber Roah folded her arms, tilting her head to one side. "Oh, Jakuelynn. Here we are again. You're tied up and tortured. I'm the one who's tied you up and is currently torturing you. And you've grown up such a lot since I last saw you." The cyborg regarded me with an almost affectionate gaze, though I knew that the woman never held any affection for anyone. "Of course, decimating your life _would_ force you to grow up, no?"

I snarled, straining against my bonds angrily, still trying futilely to break them despite the multiple breakages in my body. If only I knew where my Peacemaker – and my damn _clothes_ where, then I could...Maybe. Why _was_ I only in my underwear? It was fucking freezing in here.

Cyber Roah continued to pace around the room, just like she always did. "Still. I bet you're glad I haven't even considered your son, right? Little Rufas Mar."

Oh no. She did _not_ go there.

"So talking about your son touches a nerve, does it?" It smirked. How the fuck did she find out? It must have shown on my face. "I'm not remotely surprised by that. Talking about _Deimin_ puts a knife to the nerve, doesn't it? Especially when you found out it was Yuhmer whom assassinated him."

I was barely moving, barely breathing when she said this. She was so on the money it was unbelievable. My body at that point was so tense with anger I was surprised I hadn't gone Dark. I was also starting to worry about my father, Daxter and Sig. Had they noticed I was gone? Were they looking for me? Underneath the anger and world of pain a seed of anxiety germinated and sprouted into a plant in my heart.

"Nothing from you? Still stubborn as ever," it sighed. "Or have you simply given up, like your mother did?"

"As far as I know, my mother never gave up on anything," I growled back.

"Did your father tell you that?" Roah put a thumb and forefinger to her face. "Jak does have a habit of...leaving out particular truths. Precursors, your _face_ when I told you he'd slept with Ashelin!" Roah laughed wickedly, leaning backwards. "Anyway. If your beloved father left _that_ out from the main story, what else is he going to leave out?"

"Nothing that I'm sure you don't already know," I retorted, but the anger in my voice was weak. My strength was fading fast and I wasn't in a position to sum up Light Eco to heal myself – two things that made up a vicious cycle. Images of my father and my son flashed in my mind, a lump was suddenly born in my throat. Would I see them again? Was this really how I was going to go?

If so, it was a shitty way to do so.

"Believe me, I know everything that is to know about your father. Including, at last, his mortal name."

"Hey, metal-omaniac!" a voice to my lower left yelled. I almost cried with joy when I recognised it as being Daxter's, which meant –

"Surprise, Praxis!"

– that Jak was nearby.

"What? YOU?" the cyborg yelled before bolts of lightning hit it from Jak's Peacemaker. Roah stumbled back and crashed into the back wall as lightning lit her up like a firework.

Rather annoyingly, I blacked out from pain at that point, which means I have no more to tell you for now. Probably a good thing too...I'm a fighter, not a scholar.

Although that little conversation did leave me with some interesting questions for my father much later...


	36. 35: Give My Gun Away When It's Loaded

**A/N: THANKYOU for the reviews! We're now averaging 2.4 reviews a chapter. "Deny Thy Father..." averaged 2.48, so we're nearly there! Also, did I say "Epilogue"? I did? Frak, I'm sorry. I meant "Prologue" – the "~x~" is where I would have put the **_**Prologue**_** in. You know what I mean. I was tired too. I'm sorry. And JKA, don't worry about exams (midterms? What are midterms? You can tell I'm British :D), it's fine. :) Anyway. Read, review, enjoy or no Chapter 36. ~ Mika**

**PS:...I started writing the sequel to this story today. Like it or not, ladies and gentlemen, you's gots a trilogy on your hands. ;)**

The cyborg sprang to her feet, confronting the furious veteran warrior as he kept his finger tight on the trigger, the Peacemaker charged to its fullest, ready to strike again.

"Ah, Jak Mar, we meet again!" the cyborg snarled, opening a fist and shooting a blue-white ball of electrical charge at Jak.

"Yes, Roah, and in perfect circumstances too," he snarled, leaping aside to avoid the ball, eyes filled with anger as he released the charge from the Peacemaker. "What have you done to my daughter?"

"Jakuelynn is _fine_, I promise. Just a few broken bones here and there...and a crushed hand..." Roah trailed off, skilfully and astoundingly managing to avoid the Peacemaker shot. She did, however, flinch as a few bolts hit whatever human flesh remained. "Shouldn't you be sitting at home taking care of your grandson? After all, he's the _de facto_ heir to the thrones of Spargus and Haven, no?"

"You leave my grandson out of this. What do you want, Roah? How are you not dead?" Jak growled angrily, switching to the Beam Reflexor and yanking the trigger until a bruise formed on his finger. "I saw Jakuelynn put the entire magazine of a gun in your body not eight years ago,"

"Ah, but Jak, that's the thing." The cyborg smirked, wincing and hissing as the bullets successfully hit her. Jak allowed himself a smirk, which was quickly wiped off his face as Roah's left shoulder suddenly brought out a Reflexor of her own, firing straight back. "I didn't die. Not that day. Did anyone from the Underground check my vital signs after Jakuelynn, as you so eloquently put it, emptied an entire magazine in my body? Pulse? Breathing? No, you didn't. You made a mistake, Jak Mar. You did what you always do – walked away."

"Well, 'scuse ME, lady!" Daxter interjected, curling up defensively as a bullet whistled past his ears.

"What I _always_ do?" Jak put his Light Shield up as the bullets and their ricochets streaked across the room, dissolving as they hit the shield. "No, I walk away from scum like you after I'm done with them!" He switched to the Vulcan Fury and pressed the trigger down hard, sending blue shells spraying all over the floor as smoke of the same colour filled the room.

The old enemies were so caught up in their verbal and physical fight that they didn't notice the Light Eco emerging from Jakuelynn's unconscious body and cover it completely, part-healing all the broken and crushed bones and other injuries she had claimed in the last twelve hours. It couldn't completely heal her left hand; she did not have enough. The Light Eco also somehow managed to weaken the restraints on her ankles and wrists and bring her back to consciousness.

The first thing the young woman saw was her father on the Hover Board, fighting Roah for what she was sure was the millionth time in their respective lives. A series of clicks and an arc of electricity hit the Archduchess, causing her to shudder as millions of volts zapped through her sixty per cent metal body. Jakuelynn also saw Dark Eco crackle around Jak's body and tugged on the restraints chaining her to the wall. To her utmost surprise, they broke, sending her falling to the ground.

To her combined surprise and relief, the space between the soles of her feet and the ground was not as far as she had first feared, and she landed on all fours without breaking her legs. Her left hand screamed her pain and she slammed her eyelids shut, gritting her teeth until it passed. Roah and Jak were still locked in battle. Silent as a predator, she crept behind the cyborg, managing to avoid misfires and ricochets from her father's Morph as they dug themselves into the wall on her right. She spotted a nook in the wall ahead. As she got closer, it revealed itself to be a small cave, cleverly carved so one could only see it from a certain angle.

She also spotted her clothes and Morph Gun in that nook, and dived behind the rock to get dressed in a space about a foot and a half smaller than she was. She could only breathe a sigh of relief when she strapped on the chest plate, shouldering her Morph and flattened herself against the wall as she crept out of the nook. She only stopped shuffling against the jagged edge of the cave when she was directly behind the cyborg. Her back was slashed to ribbons and she was sure the blood was seeping through her clothes, but she couldn't care any less if she tried. As she struggled to wield the Morph Gun with only one good hand, she tried to remember all the information from the books on electrical engineering she'd read whilst pregnant with Rufas. Some of them contained information on the weak spots of a cyborg and as she succeeded in her battle with the gun, she struggled to remember those weak spots. She scanned Roah's back, hoping something – anything – would jog her memory.

_Day, help me_, she silently begged, knowing that it wouldn't do any good.

_Back of the neck_, a voice in her gut said. _Under the skull. Try there._

She froze, wondering if Deimin had heard her; that he was helping, or it was just her own fevered, pain-filled imagination. She was still very surprised that neither Roah nor Jak had spotted her, locked as they were in their battle.

_I'm sorry, left hand_, she thought as she supported the big, lumpy gun with her right hand, using her partially destroyed left hand to manage the trigger. The gun shook violently, not liking the literal change of hands, and she had trouble keeping it steady enough when aimed at the back of the half-metal skull.

Her hand suddenly steadied, anger swelling in her chest.

_Guide me from above, Day Ghosten..._

"Hey, Roah!" she yelled, noting with satisfaction as the cyborg half-turned, a look of surprise on her face. She caught Jak's eye and he switched back to his Peacemaker, holding it back to let it charge to its fullest. She turned her attention back to the woman who had destroyed so many lives.

"They say you only live twice...well, if I'm the last sight you see, then I'm honoured, bitch!"

_...Let this shot fly straight and true._

Father and daughter nodded and released their triggers at the same time. The large bolts of electricity flew from the Peacemakers and hit Roah at the same time, causing her to let rip an unearthly, mechanical scream. Jakuelynn's shot did indeed fly straight and true, disappearing snugly under the open base of Roah's half-metal skull. Her eyes – human and mechanical – widened before her head expanded and exploded, sending bits of skull, brain, wires, bolts and metal plates flying around the cave. The rest of Roah collapsed before Jakuelynn, hot and steaming, wires sparking. Jakuelynn herself was breathing heavily as she let her gun rest on the floor, loose in her hand. There was a very long silence, broken only by the hiss of bubbling blood as it reached the sparking wires. The young woman switched to the Vulcan and pointed it at the former dictatress' body, resting the barrel on the chest and using her good hand to yank the trigger back as hard as she can before she sank to her knees, her finger loosening, her jaw set. When she was sure Roah was really dead, she dropped the gun and cradled her partially-crushed left hand in her working right, not saying a word for a long time.

It was the ever-irrepressible Daxter who broke the silence.

"So, uh...she's really dead this time, right? Not just...half dead or whatever."

Nobody answered. Jakuelynn heard her father approach and her green eyes snapped up to meet his blue ones. The smoke from the steaming body subsided, the hissing and bubbling blood cooling, dissolving into the sand.

"Jak?" she croaked hoarsely.

"Jakuelynn?" Jak asked his daughter tentatively.

"I've got a few questions for you." She struggled to her feet, using her Morph as support. "And now that Roah Praxis is finally dead and gone, I can finally get some fucking answers around here."

The harsh tone in her voice explicitly told Jak that she was not going to be fobbed off with the fabled "not now" excuse.

"What kind of questions?" he asked reluctantly.

"This one first." She was shaking, though with anger or pain, neither she nor Jak could tell. "Is Rhogan my half brother?"


	37. 36: We're Under The Sheets

**A/N: Hello everybody! Thanks for reviews...and last update til Monday, as I'm not here tomorrow night and I'm working Sunday night :( No double update either, because I'm mean. I'm also just about to start Chapter Four of the dual-titled sequel to this story – when I finished drafting Chapter 10 I'll start posting the story on here. Probably won't have to wait long going by the creative river running round my body. :D Read, review, enjoy. ~ Mika**

Yuhmer fired on the approaching fleet as fast as the plane's rate of fire would let him. His confidence quickly waned, however, as he saw the rest of his own fleet destroyed in a single hit from each of the opposing fleet's planes. The realisation that this battle was one he couldn't win hit him as his confidence fell and shattered. He turned the plane and hammered the acceleration pedal as hard as he could, zooming off into the horizon. The other fleet turned, diving quickly down through the heavy cloud and touched down at the back of Sandover City before they knew it.

Rhogan ran out to greet the captain. "All sorted?"

The captain stood to attention stiffly, saluting her superior. "All sorted, sir. Except for one, who managed to escape – "

"Don't worry about him." Rhogan smiled. "I know who to call,"

"With all due respect, sir, we're the last line of defence you have," the captain said, a tinge of confusion in her voice.

Rhogan chuckled, flipping his communicator open. "With all due respect, Captain, no you're not. Our main line of defence just happen to be in the Wasteland right now." He opened a channel. "Jak, come in, it's Rhogan."

~x~

Sig watched as the missiles exploded into a huge dark purplish cloud. He spent the next hour and a half watching the damn cloud itself, wondering what the Metal Heads were up to with their new Leader. He heard some more muted explosions but nothing fell out of the sky to attack Spargus. He continued watching until his gut loosened, telling him to find Jak and regroup with Eraux, Seem, Damas and the children. He followed that gut instinct, running as fast as his sixty-five-year old legs could carry him to the garage, jumping into his vehicle and roaring back into the Wasteland towards the volcano. When he got there, he found Jak, Daxter and Jakuelynn waiting just outside the tunnel, Jakuelynn cradling her left hand, which looked black, purple and heavily swollen.

_What's happened to her?_ Sig silently worried. She looked like she'd been torn apart by whomever – whatever – was in there. He hoped she'd given It hell, whatever It was. And Cherry too, for hurting his little one.

"Get in, cherries!" he yelled. The trio wasted no time hopping into the car and buckling down as Sig took off with a force that nearly snapped multiple necks. In spite of the loud noises made from the car, he noticed how silent and tense things were between Jak and Jakuelynn. He shook his head and accelerated, keeping an eye out on the skies.

Jakuelynn was furious. Jak didn't need to say anything or even look at her to understand this. He felt it rolling off her in waves as she stared straight ahead, her green eyes fiery.

"Did she know?" she said, the brittle edge returning to her voice. "Keira. Did she know that you fucked Ashelin?"

Jak winced at his daughter's verb of choice. "No. She never found out."

The blonde tipped her head back and let out a stone-hard laugh devoid of humour. Jak noticed that she had become harder and less forgiving in her manner since Deimin's death and her banishment. Either that or Jak's memory was starting to go, which at his age he didn't doubt.

"Why did you do it?" was the next thing she uttered. "I just want to know. What possesses people to think they can have their cake and eat it?"

"Jakuelynn, it wasn't like that!" Jak insisted, rather calmly.

"Oh, _sure_," she spat.

He was beginning to get irritated. "Jakuelynn, stop. It was a mistake. We were both drunk, we were both very stupid and we both happened to be there with each other. You must understand."

"Actually, Father, I don't. I don't have experience in the romance side of things, except for with Day. As far as I know, he's never cheated on me and I've never cheated on him."

"Because he knew you'd break his neck," Jak replied.

Despite herself, Jakuelynn smiled. "Because he knew I'd break his neck," she agreed. Her iciness melted away and she put her good hand to her heart. "I miss him, Jak. So much." She looked at him, her green eyes betraying her vulnerability, the fire doused. "I don't know how much longer I can do this..."

"Come here, little one," her father said gently. Jakuelynn shuffled over and he put his arms around her. She rested her head on his shoulder, allowing herself to be held for the first time.

Allowing herself to be human for the first time in months.

~x~

As he sped away, Yuhmer left all logical and controlled thinking behind him. His instruments were warping and breaking with the Dark Eco cloud below him and a faint cold fear grew in him of suddenly losing control and plummeting to the ground below. He quickly checked the map, sighing with relief when he saw he wasn't too far from the volcano.

_Just a few more miles...just a few more_ –

"Alert. Engine One at 10%."

"Shit!" Yuhmer swore. He checked the other engine. 50%. Not too worrying, but enough to cause concern. "C'mon, plane. Only fifty more – "

"Alert. Engine One at three per cent. Engine Two at 26%."

"SHIT!" Yuhmer yelled as his screens blurred and switched off completely. The plane jerked around and he struggled to keep it under control. It turned and spiralled before plummeting into a nosedive, descending quicker than a body after he'd shot it. The ground rose to meet him much quicker than he liked and he pulled the joystick up with all the strength he had in his body. The plane slowly angled just enough to send it crashing to the ground, skidding a long way until it came to a slow halt. Yuhmer breathed heavily, the smell of gas and the sound of hissing small warnings that he needed to get out of the plane, which miraculously wasn't badly crumpled. He climbed and crawled his way out of the plane, landing on the hot sand on his hands and knees. He'd barely gotten a safe distance away from the plane when he saw the toes of some very familiar boots.

Then he heard the sound of a very familiar, cold, hard, rough and distinctly female voice.

"Well, well, well. Look who's crawling at my knees."

He slowly raised his head, looking up the non-stranger's legs, hips, body, shoulders and finally, the face. She swung her Morph Gun round with her right hand – her left, Yuhmer pleasingly noticed, purple and black from where Roah had presumably crushed it.

She also looked mad as hell.

Yuhmer gulped, his throat suddenly as dry as the desert.

Behind him, his plane exploded.


	38. 37: Boy Meets Girl

**A/N: SURPRISE, Marneus/ JKA/ Becks! :D Did I say Monday would be the next update? Well, I lied...or rather, I didn't realise that I'd have some hours spare to post another chapter before heading off to the graveyard shift at work. So here it is! Chapter 37. Read, review or no Chapter 38. Please :D ~ Mika**

**PS: Lots of "Jak 3" and a couple of "II" references in this chapter. Just so you know. Pay attention; the subtleties in this story appear later on, as has been throughout this and "Deny Thy Father...". ;)**

Somewhere in the desert, Damas snapped awake, hot electrical wires of urgency replacing the veins in his body.

"Papà?" Jayelle questioned tentatively upon seeing the look on her father's face. Damas didn't hear her. He was too busy throwing instructions at Seem and Eraux, who were both looking at him as if he'd lost his mind. Maybe he had. He wasn't sure. All he knew was that something was going on; something involving his father and sister.

"Children, stay here with Eraux and Seem," the Eco Sage hurriedly instructed.

"Papà, what's the matter? Why can't we come with you?" Oreyn asked, his dark eyes concerned.

Damas attempted a reassuring smile. "It's too dangerous, Oreyn. You must remain with Seem and Eraux. They'll protect you."

"Damas, are you sure?" Eraux asked, face creased with a concern one could interpret as almost as fatherly.

"My instinct has never lied to me before. Not on something like this." Damas closed his eyes, summing up all the Light Eco he had in his system. He felt the Dark Eco there as well, but for now it was at bay.

"Will you be back?" Kieron asked.

"Of course I will, Kee," his father reassured him gently. "I always do, do I not?"

The little boy shrugged. "I s'pose. Are you going to help Grandpa Jak and Aunty Jakuelynn?"

Damas nodded, his body aglow as Light Eco flooded his veins. He closed his eyes and jumped, a white beam hitting him from the skies. It held him there for a few seconds before dropping him back down to the floor. He wasted no time in taking a running jump back into the skies and using the long, white, fluid wings that he'd suddenly acquired, using his shield every so often to keep him afloat.

"I _hate_ it when he does that!" Jayelle sulked.

"Is it because you can't do it, Jayelle?" Eraux asked gently.

"Yeah," the little girl replied, sulkily. "And yet Kieron, Daddy and Oreyn can! Why can _they_ do it and I can't?"

Eraux shrugged. He couldn't answer, unless there was something in Jak's DNA that enabled the full set of powers to be passed down solely through the male line. He'd heard that the Channeller gene, discovered only a few years ago, was something that could not manifest in a child unless both its parents were Channellers.

It was something he'd have to look into once he was back in civilisation.

~x~

"Get the _fuck_ up, Yuhmer!" Jakuelynn snarled, pointing her gun at his forehead.

"Get the fuck down, bitch!" Yuhmer snarled back, whipping out his pistol and shooting her where he thought was the kneecap. Unfortunately, not only was he a bad aim, but the bullet bounced off the Precursor armour protecting her kneecap.

The warrioress merely raised a green eyebrow, chuckling at his attempt whilst his eyes widened.

"Mar's Armour!" he gasped. "How the fuck...? I've been looking for that for years!"

"HelLO!" Jakuelynn said, emphasising the last syllable. "It's a little family heirloom my father gave to me before you kicked me out of Sandover a full Season ago. Remember that day?" She dropped her gun and grabbed him by the collar with her good hand, hauling him up until she was nose-to-nose with him. "I know...EVERYTHING...about you, Yuhmer Vegerevich Krazak. How you've been Roah Praxis' second-in-command since Precursors know when. How YOU were the one who assassinated the man I loved a year ago and left his son fatherless." Dark Eco crackled around her body as her anger grew. "How you have continually abused your own son physically and emotionally for the past five years. Speaking of which...how _could_ you?"

"That little brat!" Yuhmer hissed, his face turning as purple as his arch-nemesis' crushed left hand. For an instant, he was the image of the father _he'd_ never known. "He was never supposed to be born. Total accident. Then that whore, his mother – "

"Oh, spare me!" Jakuelynn snorted. "Spare me the misogynist bullshit you've carried round with you. So tell me. Why did you assassinate Deimin?"

Yuhmer choked something at the woman.

"Speak up? Can't hear you."

"Roah wanted to weaken you!" he choked again. "She said the only way to destroy you was to hit your Achilles. She told me it was Goth boy. Then that way, with you weakened with grief, you wouldn't fight any more and Sandover would be defenceless. But no!" Yuhmer clutched at Jakuelynn's fist. "You were...stronger than we thought. So we...I had to think of...another way to get you out or...away from Sandover."

"So you banished me for a false excuse?" Jakuelynn hissed. "That's just _shitty_ of you."

Yuhmer nodded, his jaw hitting her fingers as he did. The warrioress shook her head, disgusted, and she dropped him to the sand. She picked up her Morph Gun and balanced it once again on her damaged hand. As soon as she had done so, however, Yuhmer charged her, swinging his fist. Instintively, she kicked out, sending him careering into the wreckage of the plane behind him. She ran towards him, more heavy footsteps joining her. She snapped her head around and saw her father following behind her.

"Jakuelynn, don't get too close!" he warned. Not heeding his own warning, he launched himself onto the younger man, pinning him against the sand and resting the barrel of the Blaster against the forehead of the former Deputy Chairman of Sandover City Council. Jakuelynn swooped in, barrel of the Morph at Yuhmer's head before he could move. His eyes locked with hers, all his hatred and anger beaming straight to her.

"Don't worry, Yuhmer...it's reciprocated and not just by me," the warrioress hissed.

"No?" Yuhmer hissed. "Prove it,"

"Gladly," Jakuelynn said, the coolness in her voice enough to shut Yuhmer up. "Although it was a foregone conclusion, owing to _your_ father. No?"

Yuhmer's eyes narrowed whilst Jak's looked at his daughter in confusion.

"Yuhmer's father?"

"More like sperm donor," Jakuelynn said coldly. "Analina Jalinovna Krazak couldn't conceive naturally, so she went to a clinic and picked one of the super-studs who had left their man-milk there. The one she picked, unfortunately – "

"No!" Yuhmer barked.

" – just happened to be –"

"Will you shut up?" Jakuelynn barked, clonking the barrel of the gun on his head. "Anyway. The sperm she happened to choose just happened to be that of, unbelievably, Count Veger's. Precursors know when he did this, but did this he did. Hence the resulting son's middle name, Vegerevich." She cocked her head smugly at the young man. "The –evich suffix means "son of" in a long-forgotten language. Yuhmer, son of Veger."

"How did you know all that?" Jak asked incredulously.

Jakuelynn smiled almost warmly. "You told me that a smart warrior never takes his – or her – opponent head on, unless you have a particularly thick skull. This was my way of taking Yuhmer on, owing to the personal lack of thick skull. The methods I used were not...legal, but they were effective." She smirked. "Certainly, psychological warfare is far more powerful and damaging than nuclear or conventional warfare. Aiming for the Achilles heel of one's opponent is a SUREFIRE way to break them. Isn't that right, Yuhmer?"

Yuhmer growled. "You're gonna pay for that, Hagai,"

"The Inferno she is," Jak growled. He bent down and closed a tight fist around the younger man's collar, lifting him up til he was nose-to-nose. "You're Veger's son, heh? That can explain your..._charming_ attitude towards my daughter!"

Jakuelynn's tone cooled again. "Father, let me deal with him."

"What else are you hiding, Yuhmer?" he snarled as the former Deputy Chairman's face purpled. "What was that?"

"Bomb!" Yuhmer choked. "There's a fucking bomb in the volcano. If everything failed, it was going to go off within two hours of Doctor Geurkin knowing the failure."

"How powerful is this bomb?"

"B-b-big enough to...destroy the world. If you...if you release me I can show you where it is!" Yuhmer's limbs twitched and Jak dropped him to the floor, lip curled in disgust.

"See, Krazak, that would work if we trusted you. Which – " Jakuelynn poked him with the Morph " –we don't."

"Love of the Precursors, you have to trust me on this! Then...then you can do whatever you want to me."

"What about Rapace?" Jakuelynn hissed.

"If...if you let me live..." Yuhmer hauled himself up, massaging his throat. "Let me live and I swear I won't touch him anymore. I promise! I won't hurt him like I've been doing for the past five years."

"That's if we let you _live_," the warrioress hissed. She prodded the barrel into his chest. "Get moving, or I'll do to you what I did to that minion of yours..."

Jak looked at his daughter in confusion. Now it was his turn for questions to germinate in his mind for her when all this was over.


	39. 38: I'm Sorry I Couldn't Stop Your Evil

**A/N: Hello, everybody! We're in the final five chapters...although I may double-update tonight because these two chapters deserve to be together...or would you like the suspense? Let me know. Well, Marneus would anyway. ALSO I have another oneshot up – "O Sweet, Cast Me Not Aside", which takes place within this story. If you're not JKA, please R&R. Same goes for this chapter too. And the next one. Please. :D ~ Mika**

Back in Sandover City, Rhogan relaxed once he was sure that there were no more impending threats from ground or sky. He withdrew all armies and lowered the threat level back down to "Yellow". The only concern was the large, thick, heavy-looking Dark Eco cloud in the sky. It was only fourteen hours – the peak of the day – but no sun filtered through the dark purple mass at all, causing many Sandover residents to switch on their lights early. Having never had to deal with this unusual situation before, the Sandover Ecology Centre did not know where to even begin with regards to sorting out the large dark mass. It was a troubling concern, considering it could further weaken Sandover.

"Rhogan?"

The younger man was snapped out of his reverie by his father. _Who else?_ He thought bitterly. Restraining the irritation that flared up whenever Torn was nearby, he slowly turned to face him.

"Dad? What is it?"

He was surprised at Torn's body language. The older man looked uncertain – nervous, even. Rhogan did not recognise his father in that state.

"Rhogan, we need to talk. Well...I need to...tell you something I should have told you a long time ago." He hunched his thin shoulders.

The young man furrowed his eyebrows, tilting his head to one side. _Whatever it is, it's serious, _he thought. He swore to the Precursors that he'd never seen his father in this manner before.

"What, Dad?" he said, an uncharacteristic softness in his voice for the first time in _his_ life. He quickly checked to make sure they were completely alone. "Do we need to go somewhere else for this?"

"Unless you think we're not in a secure area, then no, we don't." Torn seemed to stop breathing for a few minutes.

Rhogan was getting irritated and concerned. He did not like this combination, particularly when it applied to his father. "Just spit it out, Dad. What?"

To Torn's credit, he didn't hesitate, blurting "I may not be your real father!"

His blurt was followed by a long silence, as if he'd just shot Rhogan.

"_Bull_ shit." The young man blinked multiple times, shaking his head. "_What?_"

Torn sighed shakily, pacing around the room. "Around the time you were conceived...your mother had...had an affair. She...says it was alcohol-driven and I didn't take it in my head to not believe her at the time, you know? I couldn't blame her. If the man she slept with can...give her a baby quicker than I could – "

"Wait." Rhogan cut in. "Did she _know_ this guy?" He read Torn's face. "Did _you_ know the guy she slept with? Both of you?"

"Yes," Torn said shortly. "You know him as well, fairly well. And his daughter, too."

Rhogan was not slow to work it out. "You're saying that _Jak's_ my real dad? Does Jakuelynn know this?"

Torn shook his head. "Not that I know. But..."

"Yuhmer and...and Roah may have told her," Rhogan finished. His heart plummeted to his stomach. If this was true, then that would make Jakuelynn his half-sister. This also threw his newly-developed feelings for her into an entirely different light. "There's only one way to settle this."

Torn frowned. _What?_

"DNA test when father and daughter return,"

"That's if Jakuelynn _does_ know and agree to bits of her skin being used," Torn pointed out. Rhogan rolled his eyes, absent-mindedly venturing to his bookcase and running his finger along the books on family law he had, leaving a trail in the thick dust the books had developed.

"I'm sure she will," he answered.

~x~

Jakuelynn hissed in pain for the hundredth time as the Morph Gun jolted with the movement of walking against her damaged left hand. Luckily, they were almost back in the main set of rooms under the volcano which comprised of Roah's – when she was alive – base, containing all her evil plans.

"Want me to take over?" Jak asked his daughter quietly. She shook her head, jaw set tightly, combating the pain that seared through her left hand.

"I'm fine, Jak," she said, a brittle edge returning to her voice. "I'm not a kid any more. Not that you knew me as a kid, huh?"

"Hey! Why so bitter?" her father wanted to know. The subject of his missing seventeen years of her life still stung him to this day. Then he noticed the Dark Eco crackling round her entire body. _Ah_.

She sighed. "Look...I'm sorry. It's just _this_ arsehole – " she prodded Yuhmer hard with the barrel, causing him to utter a yelp. "Just want to get this shit sorted and go home. What?" she yelped, seeing the look on her father's face.

"You...apologised."

She shrugged. "And?"

"Just...you...well..." He fell silent, not knowing what to say. _You never apologise._

"Forget it. It's never going to happen again, so savour it whilst it's there," she said, the brittleness returning to her voice. "Where's this bomb, Krazak?"

"I'm getting there!" Yuhmer protested in a high-pitched voice. He was fuming inside – _how could I have _ever _let this bitch control me?_ – but with two guns at his back, he couldn't voice his opinions. He also knew that if he lied or led them away from the bomb, he would definitely lose his life. Sighing, he took one last turn into a large room with a large, round object taking up most of the room. Father and daughter raised their heads as they looked up the bomb, a long-forgotten day rearing its head.

Jakuelynn was the first to voice it. "This was the one that was used when Sandover was attacked last Winter!"

"Too right." Yuhmer smirked. "As Roah's father said, any leader worth his salt always has a back-up plan. In this case, as it was with him, this plan B is a second bomb. Although, there's no way in Inferno I'm going to let you stop ANYTHING!" With a growl, he lunged at Jakuelynn, but before either she or Jak had time to react, something collided with Yuhmer and he was knocked to the floor.


	40. 39: Take Me With You

**SURPRISE, cockfags! Yes, Marneus, I said it. Here's Part Two of tonight's double update. Because I'm really nice like that. Also Wednesday may be double-update night because it's the LAST TWO CHAPTERS OF THIS STORY! Read, review, enjoy. ~ Mika**

Jak and Jakuelynn stared in astonishment as their eyes met a Dark Eco-infused creature who was now busy tearing bloody, fleshy chunks out of Yuhmer, in essence taking her revenge from her. The young man was uttering highly un-Yuhmer-like screams of agony and terror as his life was literally torn from him, those chunks splattering against the wall. One Dark punch to his head sent it caving and exploding, bloody chunks sliding down. The creature hauled itself up and swung round, eyeing warrior father and daughter. It hissed, black eyes narrowing, and threw itself to the other side of the room as it began to shrink back to its normal self, shoulders rising and falling dramatically with its heavy breathing. It soon reverted back to its – _his_, father and daughter saw – normal self, clutching his head as the post-Darkness migraine settled in.

It was Jak who was the first to identify the human form of the creature he'd just seen, and with a gasp and the feeling that his throat had closed up.

"Saldam?"

The man lowered his hands, raised his head and looked at Jak.

"Yes?" he said in a very calm voice.

"Saldam...were you..." Jak cleared his throat and tried again. "Were you a victim of Roah's experimentation some years back?"

"No, luckily," the man Jakuelynn knew as Damas said, his calm self reflecting in his voice. "It's a genetic thing, passed down through the male line. In normal terms, I inherited it from my father, who was part of Baron Praxis' Dark Warrior Programme."

"Your father?" Jak echoed. _But I was the only survivor of the programme – Wait –_

He looked closely at Saldam.

Suddenly, everything clicked.

"D-Damas? Is...is that you?" he gasped incredulously.

"No way, tough guy! He's dead!" Daxter yelled, ever the sensitive soul.

Saldam nodded. "Yes, Father. It's me,"

"Oh, thank the _Precursors_. It's about time you told him, Damas!" Jakuelynn exclaimed.

"Wait a minute, lady. Whaddaya mean, 'It's about time'? You KNEW about this and you didn't say anything?" Daxter yelled.

"In case you didn't notice, Dax, we were a bit too busy trying to save the world. Speaking of which..." Jakuelynn fluttered her eyelashes at him. The ottsel got it immediately and frowned, crossing his arms.

"Oh, no. NO. You can flutter those pretty green eyes at me all ya want, Nel. I'm not going in THERE!"

"Please, Uncle Daxter?" Jakuelynn simpered, making herself feel sick and her father chuckle inside.

"Give me a GOOD reason. And it's GOTTA be good, lady."

"Because you're the absolute _bestest_ ottsel-uncle on the planet and I'll make it worth your while when we get back to Sandover?" Jakuelynn reasoned. She saw the aged ottsel falter and finally, he exclaimed –

"Oh, alright. But don't expect me to clear up Rufas the next time he has a little..."accident"," he grumbled, hopping off Jak's shoulder and running around the bomb, thinking aloud. "Where's the entrance?...Ha! Okay. Here we go. Orange Lightning works his magic once again! Hmm. Red wire? Blue wire? Both of them?"

"Hurry up, Dax!" Jak yelled, suddenly spotting the ticking timer.

"ARGH, WHADOIDOO?...okay. I should undo these and the timer should stop. Three, two, one – "

There was a small noise and the timer shut down. Even better, the bomb shut down completely.

"HA!" Daxter crowed as he raced out of the hatch and leapt back onto his best friend's shoulder. "Bet that's one thing you can't do, hey Nelly?"

Jakuelynn shrugged. "What can I say? You're right." She looked at her father and brother. "C'mon. Let's go home."

"Well said!" Jak said. "Damas..."

The Eco Sage nodded. "We need to get back to Eraux, Seem and my children,"

"Of course, your...children," Jak stammered, dazed by the day's events. There was a lengthy silence until Daxter once again employed the skills he was born with and successfully smashed it.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

The trio walked out of the room just as a team of scientists and mechanics came round the corner, stopping short before them. Jak brandished his Morph Gun, but Jakuelynn, with her good hand, lowered it.

"It's not necessary,"

"They were working for Roah!" he snarled. "Why should they be allowed to live?"

"Because they have not actively done anything wrong!" Jakuelynn insisted, panic rising in her throat. "Please, Father. I've had enough of unnecessary bloodshed. Just let them go."

Jak seemed to soften then, lowering his gun. "If you really want..." He turned a sharp glare at the assembled team. "If you don't want to die, get the fuck out of the way!" he snarled, shoving through the group. Jakuelynn and Damas looked at eachother, shrugging as they followed their father through the crowd and out of the volcano, leaving the scientists and mechanics to their own choices of fate.

~x~

Rhogan was sitting at his desk when his communicator suddenly bleeped, causing him to jump. He looked at the name that flashed up on his screen. _That would be my possible half-sister_, he thought, and clicked the button to open the channel.

"Jakuelynn, hey. Good to see you're alive."

"Good to hear you too, Rhogan!" the young woman laughed, sounding lighter than she had done in months. "We're on our way back to Sandover, d'you think you could organise a little welcoming committee?"

Rhogan smiled. "Sure I can."

"Oh, and can you call up Nuala Ghosten, because I have a little surprise for her. Well, it probably won't be a surprise because she's a clairvoyant and she'll know everything that's ever gone on, but it's still going to be good. And Rapace Krazak, too, if you can reach him."

"Course. Anything for you. Rhogan out,"

"Jakuelynn out and returning!" The young woman laughed and cut off.

"She sounds happy," Torn noted as he walked back into the room.

"She's avenged Deimin, by the sound of things. And saved the world whilst she was there," Rhogan said softly.

"That's what I call multitasking," Torn said.

Rhogan laughed.

~x~

Jakuelynn shut off the communicator and sprawled back in the seats, the hot desert sun warming her face. If one had asked her how she was feeling at that very moment, she would say "mixed". On one hand, Roah had been defeated and Yuhmer destroyed. Deimin had, by fantasy story rules, been avenged.

On the other hand, she wasn't the one who avenged him.

She was intensely grateful to Damas for appearing when he did, but in doing so, he had cheated her out of her revenge.

She closed her eyes. The next sequence of events that occurred behind her eyes surprised her deeply.

_She found herself apparently floating in and on a bright white light. There was nothing else that marred the scene. Just pure, blinding white light._

_When the deep, rasping voice suddenly awoke, it made her jump._

"_Greetings, great warrioress. You have consistently proved yourself worthy over the course of recent years. As a reward for all you have done to save our planet, we will grant you your deepest desire."_

"_My deepest desire?" Jakuelynn repeated, exhausted. "I've got so many..." She closed her eyes briefly, her brain trying to process what it was that she wanted – or wanted back. She remembered Deimin's words after meeting him in the post-apocalyptic place when she was unconscious just yesterday._

You have to let me go...

_It was then her deepest desire was made abundantly clear to her._

"_Resolution," she murmured. "I just want...resolution. To feel that I was not responsible for the death of the only man I've truly loved."_

"_It is done," was all the voice said. A warm light filled her, bathing every cell in her body. Something dark blurred in the corner of her eye and she lazily turned her head, heart filling with further delight when she saw Deimin._

"_Hey, Nel,"_

"_Hi, Day," she said, an inexplicable and uncharacteristic giggle escaping from her mouth._

"_It's done, Nel. My death has been avenged and I can move on in peace,"_

"_I found your father," she rasped, her throat suddenly dry. "Sangue Eraux Ghosten. I f-found him...I told him about you..."_

"_I know you did, my love." He smiled again. "Thank you. I knew you would. Now go. Be with your family. And you'll find someone you'll love with your heart and soul again; someone closer than you think..."_

"_I already do. Rufas, our son," Jakuelynn said, slightly puzzled._

"_No, Nelly," he said gently. "Someone outside our families."_

_The warrioress began to panic. "I don't want anyone else, Day. Not...like you. Never like you,"_

"_You'll surprise yourself, Nelly." Deimin turned. "Now go, darling. Go and lead the full and fulfilling life I didn't. For Rufas, for yourself..."_

"_And for you," Jakuelynn whispered as the warmth began to fade from her body._

_The love of her life smiled. "I love you, baby. Always. Be happy for me."_

"_I will," was all she heard from her lips as the light began to fade._

~x~

She jolted awake with a start, her breathing heavy. She looked over at her father and brother, who were busy chatting and laughing like the last thirty or so years never happened. She folded her arms on the car door and smiled, a peace settling inside her as she saw the familiar walls of Sandover grow bigger before her. She rested her head and closed her eyes, sighing a deep, cleansing sigh.

_Thankyou, Deimin Mar Ghosten._


	41. 40: Kiss Me Like You Wanted

**A/N: Hi ladies and gentleman, sorry for lack of updates yesterday...I got into a verbal altercation (as I'm sure Damas Jr would call it) with my younger brother and was therefore banned from the laptop yesters. Double update will follow tomorrow. Third to last chapter. On 99 reviews, can we get it all up to at least 110? Please ^_^ Luvin' the Muffin, you watcher, this means you too :D Read, review, enjoy. And now for Damas Jr explaining the title, more or less. Read it carefully, as always. ~ Mika**

**PS: THE BIG RESOLUTION IS HERE! You know what I'm talking about. ;)**

"Jakuelynn, may I speak with you?" a voice requested, snapping the warrioress out of her reverie.

She turned, the tension in her stomach releasing at the sight of her brother. "Damas? Sure. What is it?"

Her brother took a deep breath and began to speak in his eloquent, flowing voice:

"_Rebellious subjects, enemies of peace,  
Profaners of this neighbour-stain__é__d steel;  
Will they not hear? What ho, you men, you beast?  
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage  
With purple fountains issuing from your veins._"

The warrioress scratched her head. "Damas, I failed Literature in school."

"Jakuelynn, it's a warning. Or...or future advice." The older man's voice had cooled, as did his eyes – Jak's eyes. "Before I found you, I was told by a soothsayer that you would bear the meaning of this verse." He folded his arms. "The soothsayer said that the only way you'd be able to satisfy your lust for revenge is if you killed. This is what this verse refers to." His eyes turned sad. "Continue as you are and you will lose sight of what is right and wrong."

"Little bit late for that, isn't it?"

"Deimin's death has changed you, Jakuelynn Mar Hagai. This change cannot be reversed. Don't lose the values you held at eighteen. Promise me you will keep them,"

Jakuelynn inwardly sighed. He was right in many ways. Although he had in effect taken her revenge, it was done. Deimin's death was settled; she could not lose herself.

Especially now she had Rufas to raise.

She locked eyes with her brother. "I promise."

Damas nodded. "Aditionally...do not let what Rhogan's father and grandfather did to our father and grandfather place a barrier between yourself and Rhogan. His interest in you ventures beyond the professional. You must decide these feelings now the world is safe again." He smiled at her, bent his head a little and turned back to their father, leaving Jakuelynn scratching her head with both hands at her brother's words.

_Why does everyone I know talk in damn riddles?_

She shook her head and hopped out the car towards Rhogan, whom she saw clearly as the sandy desert wind was shut out by the closing gates. In the City Leader's arms, sleeping peacefully and snuggled into him, was Rufas.

Her son.

The little boy she'd been fighting over the last Season and a half to see.

"On behalf of the city I would like to offer a full apology for the actions that led to your unjust banishment," Rhogan said softly, not taking his eyes off her face as she stopped before him. "And also the reinstatement of your pre-banishment position of City Protector,"

"Can I hold my son first?" Jakuelynn croaked, a note of desperation in her voice.

Rhogan nodded and carefully held the baby out to his mother. Despite her mangled hand, Jakuelynn was able to take her son from her possible-half-brother's arms and hold him close and tight to her body, closing her eyes and bending her head to catch the baby-smell she loved so much. A flood of calm and relief surged through her as her son responded, resting his little fists on her shoulders.

"Oh, Rufas Day Mar Ghosten," she whispered, tears flooding her face. "I'm home, little one. I'm home. Your daddy can rest in peace." She blinked, lifting her head, an uncontrollable smile spreading across her face and tears rolling down her face as she gingerly rubbed his back with her bad hand, wincing in pain.

"What happened to your hand?" Rhogan said.

"It got into a fight with a cyborg's hand and a cave wall and lost," the warrioress replied dryly.

"Come on. We need to get you to the hospital and get that hand seen to,"

"What about Rufas?" the young woman said, eyes widening in panic. She did not want to be separated from him so soon.

"It's okay, he can come too. The hospital's not that far from here, remember?"

If Jakuelynn could smack herself on the forehead, she would have. Precursors know she'd been up to the hospital enough times. She looked at her father, who was still deep in conversation with her brother. She smiled. The two had a lot of catching up to do; twenty-six years of it, to be precise. Her brother's words echoed in her head.

_Don't lose the values you held at eighteen..._

~x~

Rufas slept soundly throughout the small walk to the hospital, despite the noise pollution from the city being higher today than Jakuelynn remembered it. Her left hand throbbed like mad now, and she rested it on her son's back. It hadn't on the very bumpy journey back to Sandover.

"Is he okay?" Rhogan yelled, gesturing to Rufas.

"He's fine. He could sleep through a war, this one," Jakuelynn laughed, glancing briefly at Rhogan. During that glance, she felt her son's body warm up and a white glow caught her eye. She whipped her head back to her son, her eyes widening with shock as she realised that his whole body was glowing with the unmistakeable glow of Light Eco.

They crossed the road to the hospital before stopping to look at the little wonder in his mother's arms. Rhogan stared, his blue eyes wide.

"Rufas has Light abilities?" he gasped.

Jakuelynn's mind flashed back to when she saw a perfect white circle around her then-unborn baby's body, protecting him from the surge of Dark Eco that had flooded his mother's veins when Yuhmer antagonised her. She realised that he did this for the same reason he shot Deimin; if she'd lost the baby, she would have most likely broken completely, either ending her life by her own hand or move away from the city, leaving it defenceless.

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "I guess he does." She also noticed how her left hand was becoming less and less destroyed as the fragments of bone, shreds of muscle and sinew and burst blood cells knitted back together through the healing powers of Light. _Evidently what Deimin gave me only did half the work_, she thought. Eventually, her hand healed completely, and the glow around her son's body subsided.

"Wow," she and Rhogan said simultaneously, laughing as they realised this.

"Isn't it just," the warrioress replied, feeling a rush of pride._ Those abilities came from...me. From my father._

"I've read about this," the City Leader said softly, gently brushing a finger over Rufas' head. "How Light and Dark abilities can be genetic, but only through the men in the family. The women are simply susceptible to the absorption of Light and Dark Eco, particularly if Channelling abilities run in the family too."

"Like mine?" Jakuelynn said, smiling.

"Like yours," Rhogan confirmed. "Actually, there was another reason I wanted us to go to the hospital. It's...entirely to do with genetics as well."

The warrioress wasted no time. "Is it to do with the fact that Jak may or may not also be your father, and you want to test my DNA against yours for resemblance?"

The City Leader's jaw dropped. "Jak tell you?"

"No," Jakuelynn shook her head ruefully. "Roah did."

Rhogan nodded.

"Come on then," the warrioress said grumpily. "Let's just get this sorted now."

And indeed they did. Luckily, technology had developed enough so that DNA testing was pretty much on the spot and 98% accurate, so Jakuelynn and Rhogan got the little slip of paper in less than six hours of waiting.

He looked at it.

She looked at it.

There was a very long silence as they looked at eachother.

"Well, that's sorted," Jakuelynn said, matter-of-factly. "Do you think Torn and Jak know, or even guess?"

"I think it's something that's bothered them since I was born," Rhogan replied.

"So let's tell them. I'll talk to Jak, you do Torn,"

The City Leader shrugged helplessly and, not for the first time, wondered why Jakuelynn had rejected the throne eight years ago. She would make a very good Warrior Queen. "Uh...okay."

The two walked out of the hospital, their silence punctuated by Rufas' cries as he woke up. Jakuelynn couldn't speak for Rhogan, but the sense of happiness she'd felt at the resolution she'd found and the reunion with her son had settled into something very neutral at finding this out. Whether she'd expected it or not, she couldn't say. She really couldn't.

"Father," she said when she caught him for a moment. She lowered her voice for added discretion. "I need to talk to you about what may have happened when you slept with Ashelin thirty-odd years ago?"

Jak nodded. As she told him, a peace settled inside of him. He wondered whether Torn was being told the same, how he was reacting. Knowing his stone-faced former friend, it was highly likely that what he felt was not what was shown.

After she finished talking, there was a long silence. The older man raised his eyebrows, heaving a deep sigh of relief.

"At least that's cleared up," was all he could manage.


	42. 41: Find Yourself Another Place To Fall

**A/N: Hello, everybody! Thanks for reviews! Penultimate chapter...epically long footnote in the next chapter (or the Epilogue, as is commonly known). Read & review as always. ~ Mika**

"Eraux Ghosten!"

The old soldier stood stiffly to attention. "Yes, Ma'am!"

Jakuelynn smiled. "Time to go home for you?"

Eraux nodded enthusiastically, once again providing Jakuelynn with the spooky image of the son he'd never known. She waited for the pain to enter her heart as it did every time she was reminded of Deimin, but it never came. She smiled.

"Jakuelynn?" Eraux asked tentatively, waiting for the reproach of using her given name.

She shook her head, snapping herself out of it. "Okay. Let's go." She looked around for a car and quickly spotted an abandoned one in good condition. She hopped in it and started the engine, fixing a stern green-eyed gaze on Eraux when he didn't move.

"Do you want to come home or will I have to frog-march you there or...back out in the Wasteland?"

"Is that a threat, Your Highness?" Eraux smiled cheekily as he wandered over to the car, making it bounce as he sat down.

Jakuelynn narrowed her eyes. "Just like your son," she muttered as she took the handbrake off, zooming off into the streets.

~x~

Halfway across town, Nuala Ghosten was awoken from her afternoon nap by a knock on her door. If she had a good view on the front door from her room, she would have moved the curtains and looked out the window to see who her mysterious afternoon visitor was. As it was, she had to go downstairs and personally see.

She had a feeling about who was at her door. For once, she couldn't be sure; the first time in her fifty-eight years, forty-four as a widely-known clairvoyant, that this had happened.

It worried her, to say the least.

Every creak of the stair sent her heart sinking to her stomach. If she did not know who was at the door, how did she know that her mother's vision about Jakuelynn bringing her long-lost husband home was also true? Who was planting visions in her head if this was so? The last time she had been uncertain in her visions was –

_Nuala, you sound like a nervous teenager_, she chided herself as she stepped off the last stair and looked through the glass at her door. Silhouettes. She saw silhouettes. Her heart raced as she considered the possibilities. It was either one body with two heads, Jakuelynn and Eraux or someone else entirely.

_Come on, Mum_, she suddenly heard Deimin's voice. She couldn't explain where or how she heard it. _Open the door. There's nothing to be scared of._

She smiled as she crossed the hall to the front door. _Yes, Deimin_, she thought as she turned the latch and pulled the door open.

Her jaw abruptly hit the floor.

"Hi, Nuala," Jakuelynn said, giving a little wave. "I've brought him home for you – " She was cut off as the older woman threw her arms around her, squeezing her tight, tears coursing down the older woman's cheeks.

"I knew it. I knew you would, Jakuelynn. I...I knew y-you'd bring him home!" she gasped. The young warrioress locked her arms around the only woman she'd considered a mother as the older woman released her emotion into her stomach, soaking her torn, tattered and bloody shirt. Eventually, Nuala released the warrioress and turned to the man standing next to her. He was older, much older, which was hardly surprising, but to Nuala, he was as breathtaking as the day they'd met. He offered both hands to her and she took them, lacing her fingers with his. They smiled at each other as their old courtship rituals were dusted off and renewed.

Jakuelynn took this time to take her leave, driving away from the house she knew so well, letting the twenty-seven-year separated couple catch up on the missed years. They had a lot to talk about.

Meanwhile, she had to find her father and brother.

She looked at her communicator – given back to her by Rhogan – for the date. 80th day of Spring.

She knew exactly where they'd be.

~x~

Jak approached the black ruins of the home he'd torched over twenty-six years ago, burning the memories along with the lead-ridden bodies of his dead wife and son. It was exactly twenty-six years to the day since he had lost them; lost both of them, which had set him off on what he thought was his final adventure.

That was, until recent events had forced him to think otherwise.

"I remember this place..." Damas said softly, reverentially. "I remember how the fire was always on...I mean, there was always some form of light on." He smiled. "And Keira...Mother...would always be cooking something at the same time every night, particularly when you came home."

"That's pretty startling," Jak replied, tone equally soft. He looked down at the desert violets he'd managed to find during his tenure in the Wasteland. Every year, on this day – 80th Spring – he had always returned to this site, which, by his request, Jakuelynn had forbidden anyone to build over by law.

"Would you like to be alone?" Damas asked. Jak looked at his son, surprised.

"Uh...yeah. If that's okay with you?"

"I...understand. I have somewhere I need to go myself." Damas nodded once and then began walking away.

"Wait!"

His son stopped.

"You're not leaving for good, are you?"

Damas turned. "If you want me to then I will. But what I need to do is similar to your need to do here, if I understand correctly."

Jak nodded, blinking a couple of times. "I'll...see you somewhere."

"Myself and my children will be in the city. That is a certainty." Damas returned to his waiting children in the nearby vehicle, starting the engine and drove off, leaving Jak to his thoughts.

"Hey, baby," he said, walking over to where he had buried Keira so long ago and sitting by the grave, cross-legged as he always did. "A...a lot's happened over the past year. I've got so much to tell you." He chuckled and laid the violets down on top of the stalks and rotted petals, left over from previous years. "And do you know what? It all started just over thirteen months ago, which is pretty crazy..."

~x~

"DAMAS!" Jakuelynn yelled, braking to a halt as soon as she saw her brother, niece and nephews. It was only _then_ that Rufas woke up and began crying. Jakuelynn stopped the car just in time with her brother's, unbuckling herself and Rufas before climbing out the car. She hauled Rufas out of his custom built seat and into her arms, jiggling him up and down in an attempt to settle him.

"Hello, little sister," Damas said fondly.

"Not so little, really." Jakuelynn raised her eyebrows. "Listen, are you...are you heading out of the city?"

"No, I was just on my way to somewhere within the city. Our father's – "

"With Keira?" Jakuelynn finished.

Damas nodded.

"Were you just going to see Rossanna?"

Her brother looked surprised. "How did you guess?"

Jakuelynn shrugged. "I just worked these things out. You want to be alone for this?"

"Why do I get the feeling that you stopped me because you wanted to talk about something rather serious?"

"Because that's exactly why I stopped you,"

"Let me guess...is it about the issue of the joint Spargan-Sandover thrones?"

Now it was _her_ turn to crease her eyebrows. "How did you know?"

Damas shrugged. "I just worked these things out." He smiled as his sister cocked her head, giving him a look. "Listen...Jakuelynn...I know the inheritance in our family is passed down through the male line and I am next in line, but I have no desire to rule over anyone. My children and I have been living a nomadic lifestyle for many years and had no desire to end it – at least, not until now."

"Until now?" Jakuelynn queried, halting in her attempts to settle her son, who was now asleep on her shoulder.

"Well..." Damas shrugged in a manner that reminded her of Jak. "My aim all along was to find my real family, or whomever was left of it. Namely, you and Jak. And little Rufas, of course." He chuckled, running a tanned and calloused finger over his nephew's scalp. Although Jakuelynn knew he wouldn't hurt Rufas, she still stiffened until he withdrew his finger.

"So...you don't want the throne? And are you staying in Sandover?"

Damas nodded. "I've been thinking a lot in these last few hours. It would be good for the children to not only be near family, but be settled in one place for more than six months,"

"Yeah, I've found that's useful for a child's upbringing," his sister replied, a trace of sarcasm in her voice but a smile on her face. "So you're staying? Aw, big bro, that's sweet of you. And also, your leaving the throne alone means that..." She thought for a minute. "The next in line to the throne is Oreyn when he comes of age, if he wants the throne."

"That's seven years away, however," Damas cut in before Jakuelynn's words could reach Oreyn's ears. "A long time,"

"Yes," Jakuelynn agreed. "A long time. Anyway...Rufas and I are going home. Going to take a long hot bath and deal with this sunburn I've acquired. If I give you the address, will you come back to ours?"

"We will." Her older brother smiled, looking like he was barely twenty-five in spite of being thirty-one. Jakuelynn guessed that although he resembled Keira more, right down to the blue and green hair on his head, he'd inherited Jak's ability to look younger than he was.

"I'll see you at home, then." Jakuelynn buckled Rufas back into his seat, lowering the lid and strapping herself in. Not wishing to wake Rufas, she decided to obey the speed laws for the first time in her life as she took off gently, winding her way lazily down the streets and, finally, to home.

She flipped open her communicator. "Rho?"

"Nel?"

"If it's all right with you, sir, I'll take my maternity leave now."

Rhogan laughed. "Go ahead. You deserve it."

"Good stuff!" She closed her communicator, stuffing it in her pocket. A breeze tugged her blonde hair as she reached the door, making her stop. At first, she thought it was Daxter playing a trick on her, but as she turned, she saw nobody. A smile spread across her face as she slid the key in the lock, a chuckle bubbling out of her.

"Okay, Day. That's enough," she said warmly, opening the door and slipping inside, clicking the door shut and making her way upstairs. She stopped for a minute and breathed a sigh of relief, letting her eyes take in what she hadn't seen for a full Season.

She was home, with eight months off ahead of her.

And she knew exactly how to spend it.


	43. Epilogue: Will Be Your Downfall

_**Some time later, Spargus City.**_

The moon was full again, dominating most of the sky. Slivers of cloud severed it in places, their underbellies lit by the moon they were trying to block out. Spargus Palace – the highest point in the city, apart from the gun turrent that oversaw the sea – was also silvered by the moon. The sky was a curious mix – in some places, it looked black, but in others, it was a dark blue.

Jakuelynn and her son, Rufas, stood atop the Palace, watching the night pass by. It was a little bit cold, but not goosebump-raising cold. Given that she was higher in the air than most citizens of Spargus, it should not have been as surprising as it was.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" came a gentle, Sandover-accented voice from behind her. She turned, steadying herself on the roof. Rhogan entered her field of vision as he turned, hands behind his back, smiling.

"Rhogan, what are you doing not running Sandover?" the warrioress mock-scolded.

"Jakuelynn, what are you doing standing on a very high rooftop with an infant in your arms?" Rhogan mock-scolded her back. "Permission to share your roofspace?"

"Permission granted," Jakuelynn nodded, smiling. Rhogan spread his arms, comically balancing himself on the sloped roof until he reached the flat space where Jakuelynn was standing with her son. In the silver light, the warrioress almost missed the fiery-red blush that was spread over her superior's face. Her superior looked like a nervous teenager. Jakuelynn suppressed a small chuckle as she looked at him, and he looked at her back.

"Jakuelynn..." he began.

"Yes?" she encouraged him, swaying her body as Rufas began stirring, rocking him back to sleep.

"I just..." Words once again failed the man known as Word Runner. He clenched and unclenched his fists, wondering how best to word this.

Luckily, Jakuelynn had already beaten him to it.

"I know, Rhogan."

He looked up, surprise in his blue eyes. "You do? Who told you?"

She smiled. "I didn't have to be told. I...guessed it."

Rhogan spread his hands. "Am I really that obvious?"

The young woman nodded in response, finally letting out that suppressed chuckle.

"You know there is still tension between my father and your father, right?" Rhogan asked.

"Yes, I know..." Jakuelynn trailed off. Since that day not so long ago when they had told their respective fathers that Rhogan was not in fact, Jak's son, neither Torn nor Jak had ever spoken. Admittedly, they hadn't spoken in years, but this now-resolved issue had still not eased tension between them. Both Jakuelynn and Rhogan never thought it would.

The Dark Eco cloud lingering over the city had been neutralised soon after Jakuelynn's return; she had stayed in Sandover long enough to do that. When she was absolutely sure that the city was safe, Rhogan had insisted upon insisting that she start her maternity leave. She had promptly taken Rufas to Spargus.

"How's Rapace doing?" she asked.

"It's...going to take a while, but as long as he gets the love he needs and deserves, the damage will ease a little," Rhogan replied. "From what I've coaxed out of him, Yuhmer beat him badly and often for no reason."

The fire of Jakuelynn's anger boiled again when she heard this. _Abusing his defenceless son. I should have killed him after Damas._

"He can't wait until you come back to Sandover,"

"Which won't be long," Jakuelynn replied. She had decided to spend half of her maternity leave in Spargus, the other half in Sandover – ten months altogether, unless the world decided it needed her again.

Which was perfectly likely.

Rhogan tentatively slipped an arm around her waist. She stiffened up briefly before relaxing – the last gentle human contact she'd had was Deimin, almost eighteen months ago. _He's not going to hurt you, Nel. Relax_, she told herself. She shifted Rufas onto her shoulder, which freed one hand. With his own free hand, Rhogan took it, lacing his fingers with hers. They looked at each other, smiling.

"You know I'm not going to be easy on you,"

"I know, Jakuelynn, believe me. I've seen. And I'm stubborn as a mule. I won't be easy on you, either,"

She laughed, which made her look much younger (or so Rhogan thought).

"We could give it a go anyway, right?"

"Of course." Jakuelynn sat down on the roof, her legs groaning with relief. Rhogan sat down next to her, hands still intertwined. Their eyes locked, old enemies from generations past. Both felt something stir in their hearts; something that had not for a long time, for either of them. "Never say never, Rho. That's one thing I've learned in the past thirteen months."

Rhogan shrugged. "Carpe diem, no?"

Jakuelynn nodded, though she didn't have the faintest idea what it meant. "Could you hold Rufas for me for a sec? There's something I have to do."

Rhogan nodded, taking Rufas from Jakuelynn's outstretched arms. She slung her bag off her back and carefully lifted a heavy urn from it, holding it securely in both hands. A sigh rippled through her as she prised the lid off and laid it on the roof. This day was a long time coming, and there was never a more appropriate time to do this.

"Deimin Eraux Mar Ghosten," Jakuelynn began. "The Precursors called your name thirteen months and five days ago, and your spirit went to them. Now, on this earthly abode, I release your body and let the wind c-carry that to...to wherever it may go." Her voice broke as she tipped the urn upside-down. "Deimin, I release you. Be free, my love."

Her soul mate's ashes flew out away from her, towards the moon, carried by the wind. When Jakuelynn was sure there were no more ashes in there, she put the urn down, watching as the ashes swirled until they had disappeared from the living on the rooftop. The warrioress watched as they disappeared out of sight over the Spargan walls before returning the urn and lid to her bag, once again reaching for Rhogan's hand. He took it, linking fingers with her, a light on their faces as the moon disappeared and the sky warmed up into reds, pinks and purples as the sun rose.

"Beautiful, huh?" Jakuelynn reflected, a smile once again on her face.

"Indeed," Rhogan agreed.

The young woman sighed, watching the sun rise, Rho's fingers twitching in hers. For the first time in months, she felt peace within her. She had done just as Nuala said and conquered the internal and external Darkness.

She had achieved the resolution she sought.

**THE END**

**A/N: So...this one is finished. And call it a coincidence, but it largely referenced "Jak 3", was divided into three parts – a Prologue, the main story, and an Epilogue – the main story focussed on three different groups of people and it was written across three months (August, September, October). With that in mind, I'll close this series with a third story, officially titled "What Sorrow Craves Acquaintance At My Hand?", subtitled "The Heart of (Jakuelynn) Mar". Yuhgeddit?**

**Anywho...thankyou all again for reading, reviewing and messaging about this story as it progressed through the ages. The trauma, the discoveries, the blatant rip-offs of several points of "Jak 3" ( :P ), the Tragedy, Romance, Family, Action/Adventure, Spiritual, Angst, Crime, Hurt/ Comfort, Suspense, Fantasy, Crime, Drama and Friendship of the fic...and you stuck by it. I must be good if you guys are stickin'. Thanks as always to my Day, you know who you are. :D**

**See you all soon! Right now I'm riding into the sunset with the third and leaving you with a quotation that sums up "The Fire..." from the guy I've been stealing my story titles from.**

**~ MikaHaeli8**

_It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves._

William Shakespeare


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